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R-GIS for Ecology

1 Repository Setup

In this book, we will use a GitHub-hosted repository to support hands-on activities. To participate fully, you will need a GitHub account and a local copy of the repository on your computer.

1.1 GitHub Account

If you’re new to GitHub, start by creating a free account by following the instructions here. I recommend installing GitHub Desktop if you prefer a graphical interface for managing repositories. Basic Git/GitHub operations with GitHub Desktop are outlined here.

If you already have a GitHub account but are unfamiliar with how to fork a repository, proceed to the next section to learn how to fork and clone the repository using GitHub Desktop.

NOTE: If you’re already comfortable with your own Git workflow, feel free to continue using it—there’s no need to follow the step-by-step guide below.

1.2 How to Fork and Clone the Course Repository

1.2.1 Fork the Repository on GitHub

  1. Visit the repository: https://github.com/aterui/cw_rgis
  2. Click the “Fork” button in the top right corner.
  3. Choose your GitHub account when prompted.
  4. GitHub will create a forked copy of the repository under your account, e.g., https://github.com/yourusername/cw_rgis.

1.2.2 Clone Your Fork Using GitHub Desktop

  1. Open GitHub Desktop (download it from https://desktop.github.com if needed).
  2. Ensure you’re signed in with the same GitHub account where you forked the repo.
  3. Go to File → Clone Repository…
  4. Select the “GitHub.com” tab.
  5. Locate your forked repository, which should appear as: yourusername/cw_rgis
  6. Choose a destination folder on your computer.
  7. Click “Clone” to download the repository locally.

1.2.3 Open the Project in RStudio

  1. Navigate to the folder where you cloned the repository.
  2. Double-click the cw_rgis.Rproj file to launch the project in RStudio.

1.2.4 Summary

Step Tool Action
1 GitHub (Web) Fork the repository to your account
2 GitHub Desktop Clone the fork to your computer
3 RStudio Open and begin working with the project

1.3 Project Folder Structure

The course repository cw_rgis should have the following structure:

## C:/Users/a_terui/OneDrive - UNCG/Documents/github/cw_rgis
## ├── code
## │   ├── exam_i.R
## │   └── tutorial_script.R
## ├── cw_rgis.Rproj
## └── data
##     ├── data_finsync_nc.csv
##     ├── data_fish_deq.csv
##     ├── nc.dbf
##     ├── nc.prj
##     ├── nc.shp
##     ├── nc.shx
##     ├── sf_stream_as.rds
##     ├── sf_stream_gi.rds
##     ├── spr_crop_nc.tif
##     ├── spr_example.tif
##     ├── spr_forest_nc.tif
##     ├── spr_hfp2022.tif
##     ├── spr_prec_ncne.tif
##     ├── spr_prec_ncnw.tif
##     ├── spr_prec_ncse.tif
##     ├── spr_prec_ncsw.tif
##     ├── spr_prec_us.tif
##     ├── spr_tmp_nc.tif
##     ├── spr_tmp_ncne.tif
##     ├── spr_tmp_ncnw.tif
##     ├── spr_tmp_ncse.tif
##     ├── spr_tmp_ncsw.tif
##     ├── spr_tmp_us.tif
##     └── spr_urban_nc.tif

  • The code folder will contain R script files (.R; sample script file is located initially). In this course, we will develop and work on scripts separately for each chapter.

  • The data folder contains datasets used in the hands-on activities. These data are sourced from publicly available open databases, as described in the Preface.

  • For students enrolled in this course, we will commit and push code changes to Git and GitHub regularly. This allows us to track our progress, manage edits, and collaborate effectively.