2009 Lifetime of Adventure Awardee: Dr Jon Stephenson
By:AG Society
| October-15-2009
Trained as a geologist, in 1957 Jon was appointed the Australian member of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE), the first expedition to cross the Antarctic continent.
Dr Jon Stephenson has been awarded the Australian Geographic Society Lifetime of Adventure Award for 2009. This is the Society’s highest honour and recognises those special Australians who have not only lived an adventurous life, but have also put something back into Australia and inspired other Australians.
Jon has always had a thirst for adventure and discovery. After graduating from the University of Queensland with first class honours in geology, in 1957 he was appointed the Australian member of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE), the first expedition to cross the Antarctic continent. Later that year he surveyed the previously unexplored Shackleton Range by dog sledge. He has compiled his many adventures during these years into a book, Crevasse Roulette.
Jon gained his PhD in London, and worked for a time with UNESCO in West Pakistan, where he conducted geological research in the Himalayan region. He led climbing expeditions in the Himalaya, one of which saw him come within 500 m of the then unclaimed summit of K12 (7500 m).
Despite nearly perishing in an attempt to make the first ascent of Big Ben on Heard Island, Jon went on to make the first geological survey of the island.
In 1961 Jon established the geology department at James Cook University, where he worked until his retirement in 1995. Since then he has maintained his geological and topographical interests through travel.
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