Cory Glenn Garms, Ph.D. — Senior Scientist in Remote Sensing & Lidar
Cory Glenn Garms, Ph.D.
Bridging biology, software development, and remote sensing to measure forests, sharpen satellite imagery, and more.
About
Grateful for our life, travels, and adventures together.
I am a Senior Scientist at Spectral Sciences, Inc. in Burlington, MA, with a Ph.D. in Sustainable Forest Management from Oregon State University. My research focuses on physical optics, 3D LiDAR, and computer vision—building algorithmic pipelines that translate complex spatial return signals into actionable physical models.
In applied research, I lead algorithm development for CUTMAP (a USDA-NIFA STTR mobile LiDAR cart measuring tree metrics under dense canopy in real time) and contribute to UNJITR (restoring sub-pixel photon event streams on NASA's Swift UVOT space telescope).
Outside the lab, I develop the Dirty Water Red Sox Statcast analytics suite, enjoy kayak fishing and hiking, and serve the community as Esteemed Lecturing Knight for Medford Malden Elks Lodge #915.
Research & Publications
UNJITR: Spacecraft Attitude Jitter Recovery
Restores blurred NASA Swift space telescope images corrupted by spacecraft jitter back into sharp, science-ready stars.
Assessing lean and positional error of individual mature Douglas-fir
Measures tree lean and trunk curvature to improve the accuracy of airborne laser forest inventories.
Spectral-spatial ground targets for airborne imaging performance
Deploys custom ground targets to test camera sharpness and color accuracy during airborne survey flights.
Core Scientific Systems & Platforms
Federal robotics platforms, satellite photon restoration engines, and reproducible containerized spatial pipelines.
CUTMAP: Autonomous Forest Mensuration
A USDA-NIFA STTR Phase I mobile LiDAR and stereo cart measuring tree diameter, trunk lean, and timber volume in real time with zero GPS under dense canopy.
UNJITR: NASA Spacecraft Jitter Recovery
Sub-pixel Fourier cross-correlation restoration engine recovering blurred space telescope observations across 282 Swift galaxy fields (99.7% archive recovery).
LiDAR Canopy Height Profile Extractor
Containerized Python pipeline implementing Cloth Simulation Filtering and multi-scale Delaunay TIN stacking to turn 100M+ raw LiDAR points into forest canopy models.
Hyperspectral Calibration & MTF Pipeline
Radiometric calibration toolkit for slanted-edge knife MTF verification and controlled ground target analysis during airborne flight operations.
Side Projects & Quantitative Explorations
Applying spatial statistics, machine learning, and computer vision to sports analytics, ecology, and personal interests.
Dirty Water: Boston Red Sox Analytics Suite
Daily MLB Statcast dashboard modeling starting pitcher tunneling, bullpen fatigue decay, and team performance trends.
Autonomous Bass Species Detector
Real-time underwater YOLOv8 computer vision model detecting and tracking black bass species in varied aquatic clarity.
Spurs Performance Tracker
Interactive analytics dashboard tracking San Antonio Spurs game pace, defensive ratings, and spatial shot distributions.
Notes
Field Data Collection, Baby Shower, Elks BBQ - How I used Gemini to navigate an insanely busy week
How I used Gemini as a practical sounding board to manage time, delegate tasks, triage commercial kitchen equipment, cook scratch red beans & rice, and pull off an insanely busy multi-track week.
Taming Spacecraft Jitter: How UNJITR Rescues Blurry Space Telescopes
How sub-pixel Fourier phase correlation reconstructs spacecraft attitude drift and turns 400-pixel smudges into sharp stars.
Do Trees Have Senses? (Yes, and It's Way Cooler Than Ents)
How trees measure mechanical strain, sense competing neighbors, and literally click under drought.
Killing the Dead-Zone Fastball: Notes on the Red Sox Pitching Transformation
How Andrew Bailey overhauled the Boston pitching staff by ditching generic four-seamers for horizontal chaos.
Connect & Collaborate
Get in Touch
Open to scientific research partnerships, federal grant teaming, and applied spatial data science.
Why to Connect
- • Research & Peer Review: Collaborative projects in 3D LiDAR, point cloud segmentation, and satellite sensor calibration.
- • Federal STTR / SBIR Teaming: Precision forestry robotics, edge perception hardware, and commercial field pilot testing.
- • Seminars & Mentorship: Technical presentations on containerized spatial pipelines, UAS mapping, and biometrics.