Lindsey, Alton A. (Alton Anthony), 1907-1999

Alton A. Lindsey accompanied Admiral Byrd on his second Antarctic expedition, for which he was assigned the role of vertebrate biologist. His field work on that mission included the study of penguins, seals, and other Antarctic animals. In 1951, he revisited the frozen continent in a joint American-Canadian effort to study permafrost. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on May 7, 1907, Lindsey attended Allegheny College, and later received his doctorate in biology from Cornell University. He taught at a number of American universities, and in 1947, was appointed Professor of Forest Ecology at Purdue University. Lindsey successfully advocated the establishment of nature preserves in the State of Indiana, and was a founding member of the Nature Conservancy, a charitable organization, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, which pursues ecological conservation efforts in the United States and over 35 countries around the world. He died on December 19, 1999, then 92 years old, at his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His name is borne by a string of a dozen islands (accordingly, the Lindsey Islands) off the coast of Antarctica, so dedicated at Admiral Byrd's behest.

From the guide to the Alton A. Lindsey Papers, 1933-1995, (The Ohio State University. Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program.)

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