Thursday 15th November 2018, 5.45pm
MBI Al Jaber Building, London Middle East Institute, SOAS

Dragon’s Blood Island: Socotra and Our Search for Dragons

Ella Al-Shamahi, British-Yemeni palaeoanthropologist, National Geographic Explorer, BBC presenter and stand-up comic

Ella Al-Shamahi is a British-Yemeni palaeoanthropologist, National Geographic Explorer, BBC presenter and stand-up comic. She specialises in searching for fossils in caves in unstable territories. Since the war in Yemen began, she has been concerned with the lack of discussion about the impact on Yemen’s people and heritage. Moreover, she presented and was the Associate Producer of the two-part BBC 2 show “Neanderthals; Meet Your Ancestors” alongside Hollywood actor Andy Serkis and BBC Horizon: Body Clock.

In March 2018, an MBI Al Jaber sponsored team of 4 set off on a cement cargo ship to try and reach Socotra, the ‘Galapagos’ of the Indian Ocean, for a scouting expedition with the eventual aim of conducting an on-foot, island-wide transect. Their plan was to attempt to document this incredible place. In this talk Ella will discuss the expedition, as well as Socotra's uniqueness, including the quasi mystery of why the Dragons’ Blood Tree is struggling and the communities, who are still part-time cave dwellers. The talk will also discuss how this expedition came to be: a result of the belief that both science and media exposure are urgently needed in unstable places. For Ella, being a British-Yemeni, this is, of course, a very personal story. 

You can download a pdf flyer for this lecture.

A full schedule of forthcoming lectures is available here.

In order to reserve a seat for the lecture, please email [email protected] as seating is limited.

Please note that the views expressed by the speakers in this lecture series should not be interpreted as views held by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation.