This course explores the fundamental physical principles underlying major natural hazards, focusing on volcanic eruptions, avalanches, debris flows, and wildfires. Beyond their destructive capabilities, they are alike in their chaotic and complex dynamics, making predicting their behavior difficult. The course begins with the mechanics of avalanches and other mass movements, discussing their catalysts and flow dynamics. Next, volcanic systems will be explored—their eruptions and associated hazards to humans in the form of pyroclastic density currents and ash dispersal. The course will end with an investigation of wildland fires, and how meteorology, topography, ecology, and human activity affect their prevalence and intensity. Various aspects of fluid dynamics, atmospheric science, and chemistry will be introduced to explain how fires spread and generate weather of their own. Class time is split between lectures discussing the evolution of these phenomena, an introduction to the mathematics describing them, and project-based work to provide hands-on experience analyzing experimental and computational data from recent scientific studies. Projects introduce the research process, statistics and uncertainty, and basic modeling and model evaluation techniques using Python.