Joseph Hill

Associate Professor
Structural Geology, Metamorphic Petrology, and Tectonics

I have been told that as a very young child, my favorite thing to do was to ask "why?" For every answer I was given, I responded with "why?" As an earth scientist, I count myself among the luckiest of people because I still want to know "why" and I have added "how" and "when"to my interrogative lexicon. Most every child has an innate fascination with the world around them. I happen to be lucky because, in that regard, I never grew up! I am still fascinated by the physical world around me and I still actively ask the questions: "why?", "how?", and "when?"

I am a classically trained structural geologist with related interests in tectonics, petrology, isotope geochemistry, and sedimentology. My research has primarily involved the investigation of the crystalline cores of mountain belts. I have worked in the Acadian crystalline core of the northern and southern Appalachians and the Paleoproterozoic core of the Black Hills,South Dakota.

Current research projects include mapping and tectonic/structural analysis of the metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont region of Pennsylvania, specifically in Chester and Lancaster counties, investigations of some extremely enigmatic rocks of the poorly understood Devonian-Mississippian boundary in NE Pennsylvania, and detailed mapping of some of the northern Appalachian plateau.