Over the last several decades, wildfire activity in fire-prone ecosystems of the U.S. has increased in size, severity, and frequency, impacting human health and safety, air pollution, water quality, and other ecosystem services. Wildfire has historically been a critical driver of ecosystem health in these wildfire-adapted systems, but in the era of post-Euro American settlement, suppression has limited wildfire’s function and resulted in fuel accumulation and altered wildfire regimes. Adequate characterization of the current wildfire regime – and an understanding of how it will evolve with environmental change – is now key to informing land management and policy decision-making aimed at adapting social and ecological systems towards resilience to wildfire. This session will explore the utility of remote-sensed datasets, permanent monitoring forest plots, and ecological modeling – and the analytical advancements therein – in quantifying the normality of wildfire in the U.S. More specifically, speakers will address how recently generated national (Smithsonian ForestGEO) and regional (Utah Forest Institute) datasets, new analytical platforms (Google Earth Engine), and advanced ecological models can enhance the depth and breadth of our ecological understanding of wildfire now and in the future. Additionally, new socio-ecological perspectives will be born from the empirical work to improve wildfire outcomes. The aggregate outcome of this session, therefore, is to move discussions of wildfire in the U.S. to a more quantitative and contextualized footing.