Gregory Hoke, Devin McPhillips use EAGER grant to study how surface elevation changes with time

Earth scientists in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences have received a major grant to test a new technique for measuring tectonic uplift.

Gregory Hoke, assistant professor of Earth sciences, and Devin McPhillips, a postdoctoral research associate, are the recipients of an Early-Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award from the National Science Foundation. They will use the $147,000 award to determine whether or not cosmogenic nuclides— isotopes produced in minerals during exposure to cosmic rays—determine shifts in elevation of slowly eroding South American mountain landscapes.