2 minute read
Ella Al-Shamahi
ABOUT TONIGHT’S SPEAKER
AS A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER, Ella AlShamahi is no stranger to taking risks. Not only does she put her health and well-being on the line to collect fossils from caves in hostile, disputed, and unstable regions of the world, but the accomplished paleoanthropologist and evolutionary biologist also takes risks on the stage as a stand-up comedian.
Al-Shamahi works to tell a more complete geographical story of Neanderthals and early humans. She almost exclusively works in places where, as she puts it, it is hard to get insurance. Her expeditions have included Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as places she cannot publicly admit to having visited. She is an advocate for involving these regions in scientific exploration as an imperative to develop human knowledge. Al-Shamahi uses comedy as a coping strategy for the darker side of her work, and as a way to communicate science.
She has imparted her trademark humor to viewers and listeners across the globe, having hosted and produced numerous television and radio programs, including the BBC’s 2018 two-part documentary “Neanderthals: Meet Your Ancestors” with Andy Serkis. She is part of the group behind the BBC’s “Changing Planet,” a seven-year diary documenting the impact of climate change on key habitats around the world.
Al-Shamahi performs “nerdy stand-up” internationally and has taken four stand-up shows to the Edinburgh Fringe. Her TED Talk about her expedition to the Yemeni island of Socotra has been viewed online more than two million times. In 2021, she released her debut book “The Handshake: A Gripping History,” which was named a Sunday Times “Book of the Year.”
Tonight, Al-Shamahi is sure to spark curiosity and joy while educating the audience about humanity’s common ancestors.
