FA History | Mapping Update

In order to create a tool for students looking to become involved in the field of forensic anthropology, the first step I wanted to create for my website was a map of graduate programs in the United States. This map will serve as a resource for students to easily find universities with either a Master’s program, a PhD program, or both. In our field a Master’s program is where most students are taught the techniques and methods related to osteology and forensic anthropology. PhD programs with a forensic anthropology focus on field work, casework, and overall research using those skills from a Master’s degree to further their individual research projects through their dissertation.  In order to create a map to reflect the needs for students, the inclusionary criteria for the universities comprise programs with employed active ABFA diplomates, Forensic Anthropology courses, and either a Master’s and/or PhD degree.

In order to create this map, I used JavaScript code to primarily incorporate Leaflet, an open-source JavaScript library, using Mapbox Studio to create custom style tiles to match the aesthetic of the website. I integrated a filter onto the map so students could search by their desired programs. To do this, and so I could work locally, I created layerGroups using JavaScript to separate each program type in order to color coordinate and filter out the layers. In order to reset the zoom to a central view, a “Zoom Home” button was added using code from torfsen/leaflet.zoomhome to make it more user friendly experience.