Professor Shea’s current research investigates how prehistoric humans survived long enough to become our ancestors.  An expert stoneworker and skilled practitioner of ancestral survival skills, Shea earned his BA in Anthropology and Archaeology at Boston University and his PhD in Anthropology from Harvard University. He is an expert on the prehistory of the Southwest Asia and Eastern Africa, early human population movements, Neanderthal extinction, and the development of prehistoric hunting weapons. His most recent book, The Unstoppable Human Species: Homo sapiens’ Emergence in Prehistory (2023) explains how humans dispersed over the world during prehistoric times. Shea’s ongoing research investigates how human and earlier hominin problem-solving strategies changed and varied over the last 2.5 million years. He is a recipient of the State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities and a past Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer.