The Second Revolution in Forensic Anthropology Steve Ousley's Big Data Plans

Abstract

This article tells the story of Steve Ousley’s vision for skeletal data in anthropology: an update to the Forensic Data Bank for the twenty-first century, based on the Commingled Remains Analytics (CoRA) ecosystem, with the aim of accumulating high-quality “big data” and harnessing artificial intelligence/machine learning algorithms for research, casework, and education. We share our recollections of events leading up to a meeting of the minds at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska in 2019 and offer a few thoughts about next steps. We have tried to tell this story through Steve’s eyes, using his words to describe his vision by including several emails that communicate his love of data, spirit, and wonderful sense of humor.