The fourth conference on Statistics in Ecology and Environmental Monitoring took place at the University of Otago during the week 9-13 December 2002. The theme was "Population Dynamics: The Interface Between Models and Data", the aim being to bring together ecologists, statisticians, fisheries scientists and modellers in order to discuss common issues in the modelling of population dynamics. The invited speakers were Hal Caswell (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA), Jean-Dominique Lebreton (Centre for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, CNRS, Montpellier, France) and Byron Morgan (University of Kent, UK). Approximately 80 delegates took part, coming from Europe, USA, Australia and New Zealand. There was a good mix of ecologists, applied statisticians and modellers. In addition, 25 delegates took part in a three-day workshop on matrix population models held prior to the conference, run by Hal Caswell and Jean-Dominique Lebreton. The conference proceedings will appear in a forthcoming issue of the ANZJS. As is usual with smaller conferences, there was plenty of opportunity for people to interact in a way that is not possible at larger events. We are now looking forward to the next conference in 2005.