The Socotra Archipelago Project

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 that when we ignore parts of the planet because they are politically unstable, it is a tragedy for science and tragedy for these places and people. She uses expeditions to shed light on some of the most misunderstood and disadvantaged people and places on earth. 

Al-Shamahi is a TV presenter (BBC, National Geographic, PBS and Channel 4) 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 and was a TED main stage speaker in 2019. She has an undergraduate in Genetics, a MSc in Taxonomy and Biodiversity and is undertaking her PhD in Palaeoanthropology.

Socotra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is part of Yemen. Socotra’s unique history and heritage is under critical threat, and a safe future is far from certain. By undertaking an epic expedition by foot, camels and dhow boats, and using cameras and next-generation storytelling to engage people, we seek to study and help preserve these islands, and also to present an alternative narrative of the Middle East. This is adventure science meets conservation, from the front line of both climate change and regional warfare. 

We need to stop ignoring large portions of our planet because they are politically risky, if we do that science, conservation, heritage and people suffer. Instead we need to think about side of the box.

We believe that science has a geography problem, we ignore large portions of our planet because they are deemed risky or unsafe politically. The Socotra Archipelago Project acts as a case study in how to do work in more dangerous places. However it is also an urgently needed problem, because of the war and because of climate change and neglect this place is under severe threat. WE need to urgently study, document and highlight the situation there before it is too late. 

We bring together a diverse team of experts in their fields to form a large, multi-disciplinary scientific expedition to Socotra; the first such attempt in over twenty years, with the support of world-renowned institutions and using cutting-edge technology. By pursuing a large transect expedition to cover the archipelago we have two primary goals:

With a truly multi-disciplinary team of specialists conducting research we want to bring back a more complete understanding of what's happening to Socotra's unique ecosystem and endemism.

By engaging top storytellers we will bring the majesty of this island to our audiences all over the globe, sparking interest and care for a truly unique place, while simultaneously helping change the narrative of the Middle East.

Socotris are a diverse group and some of them are working hard to protect their environment, however they need international attention and support because of political problems and because of communication problems (the internet is very bad). Our team is 25% Socotri - it isn't science if local scientists and enthusiasts aren't involved at every level. Additionally my parents are Yemeni so I am familiar with many aspects of the culture. 

The war in Yemen has been devastating to our family and Socotra was the obvious Yemeni World Heritage Site that needed attention. 

The biggest privilege I have is that I'm English, almost all my successes are as a direct result of that. But how many people does that leave behind? It leaves behind people like my cousins. It is bad for science if we don't do science in unstable places, imagine what we miss because we avoid working there. Imagine how many incredible researchers never become researchers because they come from these places and we don't collaborate with them. And in this case, when the war is over, imagine if the World Heritage Sites, a source of pride and one of the few things warring factions agree upon, are decimates. They need to still be there to help with the rebuilding effort- they bring in money and goodwill. 

My parents are Yemeni, we have already undertaken a scout, I'm an expedition leader and have been for some time and I work extensively in the media.

In our scout we had security and safety issues with even getting there and getting permits, we were the first foreign team with a media component to turn up since the war began. This was a success because I befriended the Deputy Governor and got us exceptions, he was concerned about the situation and so sorted this out for us, I decided it was too high risk to take the other routes on to the island and so in the end we took a cement cargo ship from Oman. 

I make sure my contacts and network are good- journalists, diplomats etc. I work in places where it is about thinking out of the box and doing the right thing morally. I feel incredibly uncomfortable giving examples of this, partly because most of them are incredibly sensitive (safety and security is always an issue). But I work really hard to make sure that my team aren't pushed into positions they feel uncomfortable with safety wise. So I do a lot, from making sure I have great understanding of the situation on the ground (through great contacts), to familiarising myself with the local threats, through to making sure we are doing right be the wider population. I was in one location where the scientists knew of landmine locations as did some locals but nobody had informed the UN of their GPS co-ordinates, so I made sure they knew so they could be diffused.