Training statistics-savvy ecologists: a call to action for improved statistical education in ecology

As technological advances abound, methods to analyze increasingly vast and complex data follow (Gilbert et al. 2024). In the era of big data in biology - where large datasets are generated from citizen science projects, genomics, wildlife tracking and epidemiological research - statistics is essential to interpreting findings, linking results to underlying biological mechanisms and making predictions. However, many ecologists’ ability and confidence to use novel data streams and apply new - or old - methods lag behind, leading to the incorrect use of statistics, including a reliance on overly simplistic, and potentially inappropriate, statistical tools.