Dr. Philip Howarth, Professor of Geography at University of Waterloo, is a pioneer in the field of geomatics, whose career in remote sensing spans three and a half decades. His immersion in the field began in 1964 when he enrolled in the Diploma program in Photogrammetry at the University of Glasgow, after receiving his B.A. in Geography at Cambridge University. Phil then went on to complete his PhD at the University of Glasgow in 1968, and that same year emigrated to Canada to take up a faculty position at McMaster University, where he stayed for 16 years, moving through the ranks to Full Professor. In 1984 he was lured to the Department of Geography at the University of Waterloo, where he has worked with others to establish a world-class node for research in geomatics. 

There are several measures of Dr. Howarth’s scholarly distinction. Throughout his career, he has authored or co-authored more than 115 articles in journals and conference proceedings, as well as a dozen book chapters. He has given invited addresses to a wide range of audiences on four different continents, and has been active in professional associations, for example serving as president of the Ontario Association of Remote Sensing during the 1980s. He has also been principal or co-investigator on numerous grants and contracts, whose value over the past decade has exceeded a million dollars. He has received several awards for the best paper at conferences, and in 1993 was the recipient of the Remote Sensing Gold Medal Award of the Canadian Remote Sensing Society for his “significant, long-term contribution to the field of remote sensing in Canada.”

Despite this most impressive array of accomplishments, perhaps Dr. Howarth’s greatest gift to scholarship has been in his role as graduate student supervisor. Over the course of his career, Philip Howarth has supervised 16 PhD students and 34 Master’s students-virtually all of them in the field of remote sensing on topics ranging from the development of new methodologies to applications in geomorphology, agriculture, forestry, mining, and urban landscapes. To his graduate students, Dr. Howarth is known as a true mentor, as someone who engages his students in cutting edge research, who encourages them and supports them, who exposes them to new ideas and prepares them for rewarding careers. It is through them that Philip Howarth’s contribution to the field of remote sensing will continue to grow.