Restoration Resources

This page overviews some resources specific to the RNS Program, but also many that are more broadly interesting for restoration practice. Included below are:
  • The RNS Equipment Inventory for survey and restoration tools
  • The RNS Library Inventory for scientific and management literature
  • Intro to Geospatial Tools
  • Intro to Citation Management Tools
  • List of potential Project Grant Sources
  • List of online Restoration and Ecology Resources
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The RNS Program has a well-developed library and field equipment inventory that is available to check out for all enrolled students. Access is through the Director, and can be either pre-arranged via email ([email protected]) or in the afternoons on Mondays and Wednesdays. Please go to the Director's office (David Turpin Building A129 [DTB A129]) and knock on the door!

Equipment Inventory

Library
Our equipment inventory covers most needs in the science and practice of restoration. A full list of what is available can be found here. Broadly, our equipment includes:

Field guides
Gardening and construction tools
First aid kits
Geospatial tools
Terrestrial survey tools
Aquatic survey tools
Invertebrate survey tools
Vegetation survey tools
Outdoor class activities and items
Office supplies
Presentation and outreach materials

If we're missing anything, we want to know, so don't hesitate to ask for something!
Our library includes an amazing array of local and global resources on restoration, including academic sources, grey literature, management reports, documentation of shared Indigenous Knowledge, and community syntheses of management techniques in local ecosystems.

Access our list of books in the physical collections here, and reach out if you have any suggestions for further acquisitions! Email to set an appointment if you'd like to check any out.

In the coming years, we will work towards making as much of this in-house library available online as possible, to support the learning and resources of our distance students. For now, we have compiled a spreadsheet listing the collected online resources that are currently available (coming soon!). This list includes restoration reports, planning documents, and other management-produced restoration documentation. We are working towards expanding this collection and building an online interface to explore and use it.

Geospatial resources

ESRI's ArcGIS
The University of Victoria has a free, year-long student license for ArcGIS available to some students. To see if it is available for you, follow this link and sign in with your UVic Netlink ID and password. The installation guide can be found here.

QGIS
Anyone can download and install the program QGIS, found here. It is a free and open source version of ArcGIS, and has the same tools and capacity of Arc. It is commonly used by not-for-profits who cannot afford an ESRI license.  Your license with QGIS will never expire, and there are tons of online resources for help and tutorials.

Geospatial data
The RNS program has compiled a list of geospatial data likely to be useful for restoration projects available online here.

Citation management tools

Tracking references in all documents, online or otherwise, can be made much simpler using bibliographic software. This allows you to keep a library of references that can be used in any document, inserted and formatted automatically as you call them. UVic offers a citation management guide, with useful links and videos for multiple software suggestions. The most common free and open-source software is Zotero, and instructions for use can be found here.

Local (and beyond) restoration grant opportunities

There are an amazing number of small and large grant opportunities for environmental stewardship, community engagement, and almost any work that an RNS student would be tackling. Lots of the best projects in restoration are funded by an array of grants, so applying for one for your final project is exceptionally good experience. Below is a sampling of what's available. Check out the Victoria Foundation's well-curated list of even more options. If you want to apply for a grant for your project, and you want guidance or feedback, please please contact the Director!

Online restoration resources

Global
North America
British Columbia / PNW
We work on the traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples. The Songhees and Esquimalt, as well as the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples have deep, historical relationships with the land that continue to this day. Most of our group are uninvited settlers here. We are committed to deepening our understanding of how we can assist in the movement of reconciliation, dismantling the systems that continue to cause harm, and honoring the traditional stewards that have shaped this land.