Rate My Professor Michael Lydy

Michael Lydy is a Distinguished Professor of Zoology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the School of Biological Sciences. He earned a BA from Wittenberg University, an MS from Miami University in Ohio, and a PhD in Zoology from The Ohio State University in 1990. Lydy joined the university as an assistant professor of zoology in 2001, was promoted to associate professor in 2004, and to full professor in 2007. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the departments of Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Zoology.

The principal investigator of the Lydy Research Lab, his work centers on environmental toxicology, including the fate and effects of agrochemicals, impacts of chemical mixtures and multiple stressors on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and factors affecting toxicity, bioavailability, and bioaccumulation. His lab assesses remediation of contaminated sites and best management practices to reduce pesticide and nutrient loadings into aquatic systems. Lydy has authored over 220 peer-reviewed articles, with more than 13,000 citations across 293 research items. Key publications include “Toxicity of fluoroquinolone antibiotics to aquatic organisms” (2005), “How well can we predict the toxicity of pesticide mixtures to aquatic life?” (2007), “Aquatic toxicity due to residential use of pyrethroid insecticides” (2005), “Distribution and toxicity of sediment-associated pesticides in agriculture-dominated water bodies of California’s Central Valley” (2004), and “Urban and agricultural sources of pyrethroid insecticides to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California” (2010). He has obtained at least 74 state and federal grants totaling over $25 million. An award-winning educator, Lydy received the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Teaching Excellence Award for tenure-track faculty in 2021 and the SIU Scholar Excellence Award. He has mentored more than 50 undergraduate and high school students, 46 graduate students, and 13 postdoctoral researchers, teaching courses such as Principles of Toxicology, Environmental Risk Assessment, Aquatic Toxicology, Analytical Techniques, and Introduction to GC-MS.