Thorsten Markus

Thorsten Markus is the Program Manager for Cryospheric Science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Previously, he served as Head of NASA Goddard’s Cryospheric Sciences Lab and Project Scientist for the ICESat-2 mission. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Bremen, Germany, and has been affiliated with NASA Goddard SFC since 1996, initially as an NRC postdoc and later as a civil servant in the Microwave Sensors Branch. He maintains an adjunct professor role at UMBC’s Department of Physics through the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET).

His research focuses on developing methods to derive cryospheric parameters from space-borne and airborne observations, with fieldwork spanning both polar regions. He investigates the role of cryospheric processes in global climate dynamics using satellite data assimilation and has led numerous international science campaigns. Thorsten transitioned to NASA Headquarters in 2019 to oversee cryospheric science programs.

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Thorsten’s work is centered at NASA Goddard’s Cryospheric Sciences Lab, where he previously held leadership roles, and leverages interdisciplinary approaches to address climate system interactions.