Lydia Dotto

Dotto was a journalist with the Edmonton Journal in 1969 and with the Toronto Star between 1970 and 1971. She graduated with an Honours degree from Carleton University School of Journalism in 1971. Her articles were published in The Globe and Mail, Canadian Business and en Route among others.{{Cite web |title=Lydia Dotto {{!}} Penguin Random House |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/7325/lydia-dotto |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}}

Dotto was staff science writer for The Globe and Mail from 1972–1978. Her writing on nuclear terrorism, high-energy physics, global warming and other topics earned awards from the Canadian Science Writers' Association.{{Cite news |date=25 Feb 1975 |title=Globe reporter to share prize for science work |page=8 |work=The Globe and Mail |agency=Canadian Press |id={{ProQuest| }} }}{{Cite news |last=Andy F. Visser-de Vries |date=2022-10-20 |title=Science reporter Lydia Dotto probed beneath Arctic ice and beyond Earth |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-science-reporter-lydia-dotto-probed-beneath-arctic-ice-and-beyond/ |access-date=2022-10-21}} She completed two dives under the Arctic ice for an article on cold-water diving.{{Cite news |last=Dotto |first=Lydia |date=23 May 1974 |title=Girl Under Artic Ice Finds Cold, Danger |page=W1 |work=The Globe and Mail |id={{ProQuest| }} }} She covered space missions including Skylab, Apollo, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. She was the first female member of the press corps permitted aboard the {{USS|Ticonderoga|CV-14|6}} aircraft carrier to cover the splashdown of Skylab 4 astronauts.{{Cite news |last=Dotto |first=Lydia |date=June 19, 1973 |title=Ship awaits Skylab: Supine recovery practiced at sea |pages=1 |work=The Globe and Mail |id={{ProQuest| }} }}

Dotto's association with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency continued even after leaving The Globe and Mail, in part through her rapport with astronauts Chris Hadfield and Marc Garneau. She held interviews with Canadian astronauts and participated in a zero-gravity training flight at the Johnson Space Centre. Through her skills and sources, Dotto published books and articles on space and the environment to become a leading freelance science writer and environmental journalist (see Bibliography).

Dotto was President of the Canadian Science Writers' Association from 1979–1980{{Cite web |title=The history of the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada |url=https://sciencewriters.ca/history |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=sciencewriters.ca}} and executive editor of Canadian Science News Service from 1982–1992. For her accomplishments, she was awarded the Sandford Fleming Medal for science communication by the Royal Canadian Institute in 1983.{{Cite web |title=The Sandford Fleming Medal & Citation |url=https://www.rciscience.ca/the-sandford-fleming-medal-citation |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=Royal Canadian Institute for Science |language=en-US}} She was chosen to give a talk on "Planet Earth as a Life Support System" for the 1990 Royal Astronomical Society of Canada General Assembly.{{Citation |title=Planet Earth as a Life Support System | date=9 November 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y6ytmbFgBk |language=en |access-date=2022-09-24}}

The year she turned 65, Dotto shifted her focus to wildlife photography.{{Cite web |title=Lydia Dotto Art Shop |url=https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/lydia-dotto |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=Fine Art America |language=en}} Wildlife magazines published her pictures from Canada, Costa Rica, Tanzania and elsewhere. Starting in 2005, Dotto taught environmental communication at Trent University close to her home in Peterborough, Ontario and led science writing and communication workshops.

Lydia Dotto was born to August and Assunta Dotto in Cadomin, Alberta, moving to Edmonton when she was a few years old. She has a younger sister, Terry.

Dotto attended the first Beatles concert in Canada at Empire Stadium in Vancouver and was a lifelong Beatles fan.

Lydia graduated from Austin O'Brien Catholic High School in 1968.

In her online art store, Dotto stated "I enjoy merging diverse artistic paths, never knowing where they will take me but always enjoying the journey".

Lydia Dotto died in 2022 in Peterborough with her family by her side. Her archives are held by and available for research in Special Collections & Archives at the University of Waterloo.{{cite web |last1=Giménez-Delgado |first1=Clara |title=Lydia Dotto 1949–2022 |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/library/special-collections-archives/blog/post/lydia-dotto-1949-2022 |website=Special Collections & Archives |date=20 September 2022 |publisher=University of Waterloo Library |access-date=7 July 2023}}

• {{Cite book |last1=Dotto |first1=Lydia |title=The Ozone War |last2=Schiff |first2=Harold |year=1978 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0-38512-927-5}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dotto |first=Lydia |title=Planet Earth in jeopardy: environmental consequences of nuclear war |year=1986 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-47199-836-5}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dotto |first=Lydia |title=Canada in Space |year=1987 |publisher=Irwin Pub. |isbn=978-0-77251-559-9}}
• Conference Report: {{Cite book |last=Dotto |first=Lydia |title=Thinking the unthinkable: civilization and rapid climate change |year=1988 |publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-88920-968-8}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dotto |first=Lydia |title=Asleep in the fast lane: the impact of sleep on work |year=1990 |publisher=Stoddart Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-77372-286-6}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dotto |first=Lydia |title=Losing sleep: how your sleeping habits affect your life |year=1990 |publisher=Quill/William Morrow |isbn=978-0-68811-275-2}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dotto |first=Lydia |title=Blue planet: a portrait of Earth |year=1991 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution and Lockheed Corporation |isbn=978-0-81092-472-7}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dotto |first=Lydia |title=The astronauts: Canada's voyageurs in space |year=1993 |publisher=Stoddart |isbn=978-0-77372-707-6}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dotto |first=Lydia |title=Storm warning: gambling with the climate of our planet |year=1999 |publisher=Doubleday Canada |isbn=978-0-38525-790-9}}
• French Translation: Le ciel nous tombe sur la tête: sommes-nous entrain de risquer le climat de notre planète? (2001)
• Encyclopedia Article: Canadian Space Agency {{Cite web |title=Canadian Space Agency {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-space-agency |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dotto, Lydia}}

Category:Canadian newspaper journalists

Category:Women science writers

Category:Canadian science writers

Category:Canadian science journalists

Category:1949 births

Category:2022 deaths

Category:Canadian women journalists