Software

In the practicals and on this website we will be using only software which is free and open-source, meaning it is available for anyone to download and use free of charge.

QGIS

In the practicals for ENVS255 we have been using QGIS, which is available to download at here. QGIS is a free and open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) application designed for spatial data visualisation, analysis, and management. It is widely used in research and industry for creating, editing, and analysing geospatial data.

Alongside what we worked on in the taught practicals, there is a plethora of excellent resources for learning how to best use QGIS available online - some of these are listed in the Tutorials tab of this website.

R and RStudio

One of the most frequently used softwares for animal movement studies is R and RStudio. R and RStudio are free, open-source tools widely used for data analysis, statistics, and geospatial work. To get started, first download R from the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN), which provides the core programming language and statistical environment. After installing R, download RStudio from Posit. RStudio is an integrated development environment (IDE) that makes it easier to write code, manage projects, visualize data, and install packages. Together, R and RStudio provide a powerful platform for analysing environmental and spatial datasets used in GIS and environmental science.