Lydia Dotto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lydia Dotto | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 29, 1949 Cadomin, Alberta |
| Died | September 17, 2022 (aged 73) Peterborough, Ontario |
| Occupation | Journalist, Author, Photographer |
| Citizenship | Canada |
| Alma mater | Carleton University Austin O'Brien Catholic High School |
| Subject | Space, Environment |
| Notable awards | Sandford Fleming Award 1983 |
Lydia Dotto (1949–2022) was a Canadian science journalist and author, a wildlife photographer, and an educator on science communication.[1][2] Dotto's best known book is Storm Warning, a 1999 non-fiction work on climate change and its predicted effects. Dotto worked as an arctic diver and trained in zero gravity flight prior to her writing career.[3]
Dotto was a journalist with the Edmonton Journal in 1969 and with the Toronto Star between 1970 and 1971.[2] She graduated with an Honours degree from Carleton University School of Journalism in 1971.[1][2] Her articles were published in The Globe and Mail, Canadian Business and en Route among others.[4] Dotto was staff science writer for The Globe and Mail from 1972–1978.[2] Her writing on nuclear terrorism, high-energy physics, global warming and other topics earned awards from the Canadian Science Writers' Association.[1][5][6]
She completed two dives under the Arctic ice for an article on cold-water diving.[1][7] She covered space missions including Skylab, Apollo, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.[1][6] She was the first female member of the press corps permitted aboard the USS Ticonderoga aircraft carrier to cover the splashdown of Skylab 4 astronauts.[1][8]
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.[6] She held interviews with Canadian astronauts and participated in a zero-gravity training flight at the Johnson Space Centre.[1] 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).[6]
Dotto was President of the Canadian Science Writers' Association from 1979–1980[9] and executive editor of Canadian Science News Service from 1982–1992.[6] For her accomplishments, she was awarded the Sandford Fleming Medal for science communication by the Royal Canadian Institute in 1983.[1][10] 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.[11]
The year she turned 65, Dotto shifted her focus to wildlife photography.[1][12] Wildlife magazines published her pictures from Canada, Costa Rica, Tanzania and elsewhere.[2] Starting in 2005, Dotto taught environmental communication at Trent University close to her home in Peterborough, Ontario and led science writing and communication workshops.[1][2][6]
