Dirk Werle graduated from McGill University in 1984. He taught air photo interpretation and environmental remote sensing at several universities in Germany and Canada during the 1980s and early 1990s. Over the past three decades he has contributed as a researcher, lecturer and advisor to the Canadian RADARSAT Earth observation satellite program, mainly involving environmental monitoring and resource analysis issues. He served as president and officer of the Canadian Remote Sensing Society for several years; he is a senior member of the international Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society, and currently chairs the Board of the International Oceans Institute (IOI-Canada), an NGO located in Halifax and in Malta. His personal interest in “the view from above” goes back to his days as teenager when he learned to fly gliders. It has since broadened his horizons from professional, geographical and historical points-of-view.