A comment on computational biology and connecting the dots.

Abstract

Increasingly, big data, coding, and quantitative methods contribute to contemporary ecological and evolutionary endeavours. This is not in opposition to effective ideation nor does it play to the false dichotomy of theory versus data. Computational expeditions with data, models, simulations or any other number of approaches both expand the toolkit of science and promote more structured reasoning. The implications of computational biology integrated with scientific pursuits such as experiments and theory development include the following positive outcomes: enhanced open science, better reproducibility, data literacy, author inclusivity, social good, and novel ideation opportunities. We face a climate apocalypse and unprecedented ecological challenges of collapsing ecosystem functions. Computation coupled with ideation is one mechanism to align the hearts and heads of scientists and decision makers alike.