Ella Al-Shamahi

Paleoanthropologist, stand-up comic

Ella Al-Shamahi is a palaeoanthropologist specializing in fossil hunting in caves in unstable, hostile and disputed territories. In her spare time, she's a stand-up comic.

Why you should listen

Ella Al-Shamahi sometimes calls herself an "adventure-scientist" -- but to her, it's less about the adventure of working in places like Yemen, Iraq, the Nagorno-Karabakh and northern Cyprus. She believes in using expeditions to shed light on some of the most misunderstood and disadvantaged people and places on earth.

Al-Shamahi is a TV presenter and stand-up comic, partly because she realized that it was an incredible way to communicate science. She performs stand-up and nerdy-science stand-up in the UK and internationally. She was named a 2015 National Geographic Emerging Explorer.

Ella Al-Shamahi’s TED Talk

Ella Al-Shamahi
The fascinating (and dangerous) places scientists aren't exploring
15 minutes 43 seconds
We're not doing frontline exploratory science in a huge portion of the world -- the places governments deem too hostile or disputed. What might we be missing because we're not looking? In this fearless, unexpectedly funny talk, paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi takes us on an expedition to the Yemeni island of Socotra -- one of the most biodiverse places on earth -- and makes the case for scientists to explore the unstable regions that could be home to incredible discoveries.
Posted Jul 2019

Ella Al-Shamahi

Why you should listen

Ella Al-Shamahi’s TED Talk

More news and ideas from Ella Al-Shamahi

In Case You Missed It: Highlights from day 3 of TED2019

Possibility: Notes from Session 7 of TED2019