Ella Al-Shamahi is a National Geographic explorer, paleoanthropologist, stand-up comic, media personality and author. Born in Birmingham, England, Al-Shamahi is of both Yemeni and Syrian ancestry. Initially, she did not do anthropology, but instead completed her degree in Genetics from University College London (UCL) and an MSc in Taxonomy and Biodiversity from Imperial College London. Currently, she is an Anthropology PhD candidate at UCL, focusing her research on Neanderthals.
Al-Shamahi also does stand-up comedy and has performed at shows such as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. According to a National Geographic post, Ella uses comedy to communicate science as well as a coping strategy.
In 2019, Ella was a TED main stage speaker, and has garnered over 124,000 views on YouTube and over 2.3 million views on TED’s official website. This TED talk focused on the lack of frontline exploratory science in areas deemed ‘hostile’. Below is a quote from the TED talk:
‘I think that we constantly forget that, for them, it’s not the ‘hostile environment’, for them, it’s home. Research done in unstable places with local collaborators can lead to incredible discoveries- and that is what we are hoping upon hope to do in Socotra [an archipelago in Yemen] … These places are not hellholes, they’re not write-offs; they’re the future frontline of science and exploration.’
As well as using stand-up comedy and TED talks as a form of scientific communication, Al-Shamahi is also a television presenter, having done multiple documentary series with the BBC, National Geographic, PBS, and Channel 4. This includes one done with Andy Serkis, ‘Neanderthals: Meet Your Ancestors’, where Neanderthals were brought ‘back-to-life’ using animation.
As a woman in a predominantly male field, Ella has learnt how to navigate both the advantages and disadvantages of being a woman, as she states in an interview with Hush UK:
‘You have to toughen up and get smart. You need to quickly learn what advantages your gender gives you (e.g., women in unstable places are not seen to be as threatening as a man), use that, and be thankful for it. Then all the disadvantages you need to learn to navigate. Personally, I don’t and can’t fight it all, so I pick my battles and I build up a network I can trust and rely on…and write jokes about the sexism.’
Be sure to check out her book- ‘The Handshake: A Gripping History’!
A huge thank you to Ella for her photos and participation in the Trowelblazers project!
Images taken from Ella Al-Shamahi’s Instagram, with permission from Ella.
Guest post by Iqrra Mirza as part of the 2021 UCL TrowelBlazers Digital Fieldwork Project.
