Tori is a palaeontologist and evolutionary biologist who specialises in the Ice Age – where the human story and archaeology really gets going. Her work has taken her from the fossil-rich caves of the Mediterranean islands, to the permafrost of Siberia in search of frozen mammoth carcasses. Tori’s palaeontological endeavours inform her expertise on the ethics and practicalities of “de-extinction” – whether we could, and should, bring back extinct species. In January 2026 Tori joined the presenting team of Digging for Britain for BBC Two, showcasing the latest finds of archaeologists. Tori will be the lead presenter of the new series of Digging for Britain, airing in 2027. Other credits include Bone Detectives, Britain at Low Tide, and Walking Through...
Tori is a palaeontologist and evolutionary biologist who specialises in the Ice Age – where the human story and archaeology really gets going. Her work has taken her from the fossil-rich caves of the Mediterranean islands, to the permafrost of Siberia in search of frozen mammoth carcasses. Tori’s palaeontological endeavours inform her expertise on the ethics and practicalities of “de-extinction” – whether we could, and should, bring back extinct species.
In January 2026 Tori joined the presenting team of Digging for Britain for BBC Two, showcasing the latest finds of archaeologists. Tori will be the lead presenter of the new series of Digging for Britain, airing in 2027. Other credits include Bone Detectives, Britain at Low Tide, and Walking Through Time for Channel 4. She also presented Ice Age: Return of the Mammoth? For Channel 4 and the Science Channel, Woolly Mammoth The Autopsy for Channel 4and Smithsonian), Hannibal’s Elephant Army for Channel 4/PBS and T. rex Autopsy for National Geographic. Tori has also made multiple appearances as an expert contributor on a number of specialist factual programmes, as well as news and current affairs (she once left Russel Howard lost for words on Russel Howard’s Good News).
Tori’s audio presenting credits include BBC Radio 4’s Hoax & One to One: Future Cities, and Inside Science, and the award-winning podcast Wild Crimes and Our Broken Planet. She is a frequent guest on radio comedy shows such as the Infinite Monkey Cage and Curious Cases, and regularly called upon for expert comment.
Tori is Senior Lecturer in the School of Biosciences at the University of Sheffield, where she also runs the MSc in Science Communication.
She co-founded TrowelBlazers, an organisation dedicated to telling the stories of pioneering women in palaeontology, geology and archaeology.
