Al-Shamahi specialises in finding fossils in Palaeolithic caves in unstable and hostile territories, such as Syria, Iraq, Nagorno-Karabakh and Yemen.[1][2] In her TED talk, Al-Shamahi describes her reconnaissance expedition to Socotra, a Yemeni island.[9] The expedition was funded by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation as part of their ongoing support for the heritage of Yemen.[10] She was prohibited from traveling to mainland Yemen, as it was a no-fly zone, but found that the island was relatively safe.