This course unit explores the present biogeography of fire, as well as its past temporal evolution over time. Historical aspects of fire trajectories (“Fire history”) are complemented by information about the ecological impacts of fire on vegetation (“Fire ecology”). This broader approach will help developing a more critical understanding of key environmental stressors of ecosystem change, integrating both natural (climatic) factors, and cultural aspects ("The Anthropocene"). Finally, “hot debate” topics such as fire management and biodiversity conservation will be examined under specific case studies that are relevant for future social, economic, and environmental changes. The course unit includes a series of practicals focusing on methodological approaches (Charcoal as a fire proxy), state-of-the-art quantitative analyses, and some basic R-programming skills to perform data mining and statistical analysis of palaeoecological data.