Lydia Dotto was born in 1949. In 1971, she graduated with an Honors degree in journalism from Carleton University.

Dotto worked as a general assignment journalist for the Edmonton Journal in 1969 and for the Toronto Star between 1970 and 1971. From 1972 to 1978, Dotto was a staff science writer for The Globe and Mail. In 1978, she became a freelance science and environmental journalist and writer, publishing in varied media and publishing several reports and books. During that time, Dotto was also a partner at Dotto and Schiff Science News Service, co-director of Canadian Science News (a weekly syndication service), and president of the Canadian Science Writers Association.

In 2004, Lydia Dotto focused her work on wildlife photography, travelling across Canada, Tanzania, Costa Rica, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States of America. And publishing in Canadian Wildlife magazine, WILD magazine, On Nature magazine, and Muskoka magazine, among others.

Lydia Dotto also worked as a teacher, including classes on environmental communications for ten years at Trent University.

During her professional years, Lydia Dotto published numerous reports and books, including, among others:

• The ozone war (1978),
• Planet Earth in jeopardy: environmental consequences of nuclear war (1986),
• Canada in space (1987),
• Asleep in the fast lane: the impact of sleep on work (1990),
• Losing sleep: how your sleeping habits affect your life (1990),
• Blue planet: a portrait of Earth (1991),
• The astronauts: Canada's voyageurs in space (1993),
• Storm warning: gambling with the climate of our planet (1999),
• Le ciel nous tombe sur la tete: sommes-nous entrain de risquer le climat de notre planete? (2001), and
• Thinking the unthinkable: civilization and rapid climate change (2006).

Lydia Dotto passed away on September 17, 2022.