Ella Al-Shamahi
Ella Al-Shamahi is a paleoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist, and BBC series HUMAN host who reveals how creativity and adaptability made our species the one that survived.
Paleoanthropologist
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2% Neanderthal
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Nerdy Stand-Up Queen
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Paleoanthropologist • 2% Neanderthal • Nerdy Stand-Up Queen •
More about Ella
Evolutionary biologist, anthropology doctoral candidate, and National Geographic Explorer, Ella Al-Shamahi is shaking things up in the world of human history. Raised in England of Yemeni and Syrian descent, this modern Arab woman specializes in Neanderthal studies and harbors a passion for fossil hunting in Paleolithic caves.
As the first woman to anchor a major natural history series—Ella recently hosted the groundbreaking 5-part BBC Studios/PBS NOVA series, HUMAN, telling the story of how humanity went from being just one of many hominin species to the dominant form of life on earth. Using a combination of archaeology, adventure travel and reconstruction, HUMAN tells the story of how we became modern humans. On stage, Ella takes audiences along the journey, revealing why creativity, collaboration and perhaps a little bit of luck enabled us to be the only Human species on the planet today.
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A featured presenter on the ongoing series Our Changing Planet (BBC), Ella was also the presenter and associate producer for BBC Two’s science series Neanderthals: Meet Your Ancestors and Horizon: Body Clock. She also hosted a National Geographic show Viking Warrior Women where she discovered what might be the first evidence of a battle injury on a female Viking warrior.
Ella’s debut book, The Handshake (2021), was a Times (UK) and Sunday Times (UK) Book of the Year. She also performs “nerdy” stand-up internationally — partly to cope with the stress of working in places where flak jackets are necessary, but also to communicate science in a novel way — and has taken four shows to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Speaking Topics
Resilience
Science
Exploration
Culture
Watch Ella in action
Presentations
Becoming Human
Are you ready to embark on a transformative journey into the world of human evolution? Look no further than evolutionary biologist, comedian, and TV host Ella Al-Shamahi. With her dynamic storytelling skills and expertise in our shared human history, Ella explains why we need to understand our recent ancestors’ failures in order to chart a better future.
“The moment where you jump out of a jeep on expedition, you know there's a possibility that you’ll find something that could change our knowledge of who we are and where we come from.”
– Ella Al-Shamahi