spatialplanr — R Package for Spatial Conservation Planning

✦ Context

Research Assistant – Mathematical Marine Ecology Lab (MME Lab), University of Queensland

December 2023 – May 2024
Supervision: Pr. Anthony J. Richardson & Dr. Jason D. Everett

I contributed to the development of spatialplanr, an open-source R package designed to simplify and standardise spatial conservation planning workflows. Built on top of the prioritizr package, it facilitates data preparation, analysis execution, and visualisation for students and researchers.

My contributions were merged from my development branch (develKGB) and are visible in the repository history.

✦ Tools & Skills

R prioritizr sf / raster tidyverse GitHub Actions pkgdown Input validation Vignettes & documentation Spatial data processing Unit testing & CI/CD

✦ Key Contributions

• Developed and improved core functions (e.g., splnr_get_gfw, splnr_get_distCoast, splnr_get_MPAs, and plotting utilities)
• Implemented extensive input validation to enhance package robustness
• Created and updated vignettes (including GlobalFishingWatch integration) and Rd documentation
• Added unit tests and fixed errors/warnings
• Contributed to overall package structure and successfully merged the development branch

Personal commits visible on the repository and my name mentioned in several code files I’ve worked on (functions, vignettes, etc.).

✦ Outputs & Links

🔗 My GitHub fork (with my contributions) 👤 My commits 📖 Official documentation site (pkgdown) 🏠 Official repository (SpatialPlanning organisation)

Note: The package is still under active development. Full source code and technical details available upon request to the Spatial Planning Team at UQ (See official documentation above).