How space directly and indirectly affects biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is the focus of several sub-disciplines in the life sciences. All of these sub-disciplines share concepts and analytical methods that stem from the field of spatial ecology. Spatial ecology focuses on the study and modeling of the role(s) of space on ecological processes that in turn affects ecological patterns. Our goal is to introduce why space is important for ecology and conservation, and how space is captured in applied ecological modeling. We introduce these issues by tracking the history and development of spatial ecology and conservation, and how different types of modeling frameworks have been advanced over the years to capture spatial problems. Spatial ecology largely arose from key empirical and theoretical developments in the 1950–1970s that emphasized how spatial heterogeneity could promote population persistence and how dispersal could have major impacts on populations and communities. With more recent growth in spatial models, the availability of spatial data, computing capacity, and ongoing large-scale environmental change, spatial ecology has matured as a discipline. The maturation has led to spatial ecology becoming integral to the entire fields of ecology and conservation.