NeSS 2002 is a major international workshop designed to review and integrate the results of recent developments in neutrino, low background and geo-science investigations requiring great subterranean depth.

This workshop is very important to the future of our respective fields. Its genesis is a statement in the fiscal year 2003 budget request for the National Science Foundation submitted by the President to the US Congress. This request includes the following statement pertaining to research on neutrino collectors, including applications for underground research: "Such research, including underground applications, will also be the subject of a major NSF Workshop on neutrino research projects and a National Academy of Sciences' Report."

Numerous previous workshops, NRC reviews, and advisory committee deliberations have been undertaken focusing on prospects for experimental research in physics and other disciplines that can be carried out in an underground laboratory. The goal of the upcoming NeSS 2002 workshop is to build on these prior deliberations and provide a coherent and comprehensive document for use by federal funding agencies, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congress. In particular, the NeSS 2002 Working Group Leaders are charged to produce a road map that will guide these investigations worldwide over the next few years.

To produce the comprehensive road map that we need, it is necessary that key spokespersons for all planned major experiments that depend on underground laboratories participate in this workshop. We estimate that approximately 75% of the workshop participants will be in physics and astrophysics while 25% will be in other fields, e.g., geology, biology, chemistry, and national defense. It also is important that the leaders of education and outreach activities underway in each of these disciplines participate.