Makenzie Lystrup
Chief Technology Officer
Description
Dr. Makenzie Lystrup serves as EDF’s Chief Technology Officer, advancing the organization’s work on climate accountability through space-based technologies. She works across EDF’s science, policy, economics and program teams to leverage space systems, advanced Earth observation, large-scale data integration, and emerging technologies to address climate change.
As CTO, Lystrup oversees work related to MethaneSAT’s efforts to deliver satellite data, cutting-edge science and analysis needed to track and reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. MethaneSAT is a mission designed to provide the world with the tools to monitor and cut methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas that drives global warming.
Background
From 2023 to 2026, Lystrup was Director for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, responsible for all aspects of the center and its leading roles in the nation’s weather, land imaging, space weather satellites and NASA’s science missions.
At Ball Aerospace (now BAE Systems) from 2013 to 2022, Lystrup held leadership positions during a major transformation. In leading Ball’s Civil Space unit for four years, She delivered high-impact programs including the James Webb Space Telescope.
Early in her career, Lystrup was a Science & Technology Policy Fellow in the House of Representatives. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Astronomical Society and the International Society for Optics and Photonics. Lystrup earned a Ph.D. in astrophysics from University College London and a B.S. in physics from Portland State University.