How to be a 21st century explorer

Date – Thursday, 26 September
Time – 14:00 – 15:00
Location – Auditorium 6/7, CCL

Ella Al-Shamahi is a National Geographic Explorer and evolutionary biologist specialising in expeditions in politically hostile and disputed territories, along the way she became a TV presenter and stand-up comic.

In this talk Ella details some of her expeditions in Yemen and Somaliland – from breathtaking landscapes to tough situations with a sprinkling of wild anecdotes. She will argue that if we really want to understand who we are and where we come from, we need to conduct more archaeology and science in regions of the world which are neglected due to instability. This talk also weaves in some human evolution, asking why we are the only human species left on Earth and how we didn’t really evolve for the modern industrialised world we now live in.

Ella is currently filming a BBC flagship science series called HUMAN and hosts the BBC World Service’s The Conversation. She has presented other TV shows including Waterhole: Africa’s Animal Oasis, Neanderthals: Meet Your Ancestors and Our Changing Planet as well as radio shows including BBC Radio 4’s Why Do We Do That?