Cyril (Cy) Hampson was born in Lacombe, Alberta in May, 1914. He became a teacher in Whitecourt during the Great Depression and later became a professor at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary, completing his PhD thesis on the locomotion of northern flying squirrels in 1966.

In addition to his teaching career, Cy Hampson was an avid wildlife researcher, photographer, writer, and documentarian. His photographs of flora and fauna, particularly birds and Arctic species, have been used to illustrate several publications on Albertan and northern Canadian wildlife. Hampson also wrote several books on Canadian wildlife, including Into the Woods and Beyond (1971) and With Ptarmigan and Timber Wolves (1991), and wrote a weekly column entitled Outdoors Unlimited on birds and other wildlife for the Peninsula News Review of Sidney, British Columbia.

During his tenure at the University of Alberta, Hampson also produced Question Mark Trail, a radio program distributed through Alberta School Broadcasts that focused on Alberta wildlife.

Cy Hampson died in July, 1997.