Hal Lister

Who was Hal Lister?

Hal Lister was a British geographer and Arctic explorer. Hal was born Harold Lister in Keighley, West Yorkshire, and was educated at Keighley Grammar School and King’s College. In 1948, Hal guided a small group of Newcastle University Geography undergraduates on a pioneering overseas expedition to Iceland. Hal joined the Merchant Navy, but transferred to the Royal Navy after learning to fly. He went to Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge in 1950 to do research in Geography, interrupted by his participation as a glaciologist in the British North Greenland Expedition, 1952–1954. His Ph.D. was awarded in 1956. Hal was a glaciologist during the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1955-1958. During this expedition led by Sir Vivian Fuchs he helped to develop maps of the Weddell Sea. Hal's last post was as a reader at the School of Geography, Newcastle University. Hal formerly retired in 1986, but continued to travel widely and meet in academic circles until the last few years before he died on the February 24th, 2010. One of his later interests was Amnesty International.