How Nigerian Intern Revolutionizes Cookeville City, Cemetery in USA with Digital Mapping Project

By Femi Oyelola

In a move towards digitizing history and simplifying the way we honor the departed, the City of Cookeville’s latest project has turned a traditional cemetery into a digitally navigable ground; thanks to an international intellect’s tech-savvy intervention, the Cookeville City Cemetery is stepping into the modern age with an updated GIS application.
The brain behind the tech overhaul is Jennifer Nwafor – an intern.
Nwafor, who hails from Enugu State, Nigeria, brought a wealth of experience and expertise to her role.
Holding a bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from Caritas University and a master’s in Applied Management and Sustainability from the University of Bradford, Nwafor further honed her skills with a Professional Science Master (PSM) in Environmental Informatics from Tennessee Technological University
Cookeville is the county seat and largest city of Putnam County, Tennessee, United States.
Nwafor captured a comprehensive visual record of over 6,000 grave markers braving cicadas and heat which, surprises none considering her track record.
As of the 2020 United States census, its population was reported to be 34,842. It is recognized as one of the country’s micropolitan areas, or smaller cities that function as significant regional economic hubs
Judging by the above Cemetery management, often a task steeped in antiquity, has been given a digital facelift under Nwafor’s diligence, offering features like grave searches by various identifiers and viewing of military markers; the GIS application now brims with added utility assisting cemetery staff in preserving historical data and streamlining their operations
During her internship, Nwafor undertook the challenging task of capturing over 6,000 photos of grave markers at the Cookeville City Cemetery.
Despite the difficulties of working through high temperatures and cicada season, her dedication led to a complete overhaul of the existing GIS application.
The current application was created by Community Development as an economical alternative to third-party software. The application was a massive improvement for the City’s cemetery management, but it was not without limitations. Nwafor’s addition of more advanced features has resolved many of those limitations and added a completely new dimension to the application.
The cemetery manager, Rick Garrison, and groundskeepers, Wade Cooper and Gary Taylor, provided valuable feedback throughout the improvement process.
As the primary users of the cemetery management application, Nwafor had to make sure the information and features of the application aligned with the needs of cemetery workers.
Nwafor’s updates now allow cemetery personnel to search for graves by name, date of birth, or date of death, with results highlighted on a GIS map. It also allows users to see all graves with military markers and to see a recent photo of the grave marker, adding valuable context to the information available.
In addition to these improvements, Nwafor and David Bailey, Cookeville GIS Systems Manager, are currently working with cemetery groundskeepers to refine data on vacant plots. When finished, a public-facing application will enable residents to locate individual graves and search for plots currently available for purchase.
While replying to People Daily Weekend on her experiences
, Nwafor said she found it “incredibly fulfilling.
“Overall, the support and kindness from everyone made my internship a truly rewarding experience and it felt great to see how my work would directly benefit the community.”
Nwafor, who admits to having been wary of cemeteries in the past, has gained a newfound appreciation through her internship experience. “I learned that cemeteries can be valuable tools for genealogy,” she said. “I also discovered a lot about Cookeville’s history, including information on the first settlers and other notable figures. It was fascinating to learn about Mahaley Wiley Shaw, the woman who donated the first two acres for the cemetery.”
The City of Cookeville is extremely grateful to Jennifer Nwafor for her exceptional work and dedication. Her efforts have not only modernized the cemetery’s GIS application but also provided the community with an invaluable tool for preserving and exploring local history.