Dr Steve Lancaster

Analytical chemistry is an essential field in every society today. It touches all our lives, from ensuring the quality of our foods and medicines, to the air we breathe and the water we drink. Every kind of manufactured item, from textiles and pharmaceuticals to motor cars and gasoline, requires analysis. Consequently, there is a need for highly trained analytical chemists.  

Most laboratories in academia, industrial and medical facilities in the developed world have access to advanced analytical equipment and highly trained professionals to operate them. However, in developing economies, including many African countries, there is a lack of such advanced equipment due to their high purchase price, running costs and fees associated with providing sufficiently trained scientists to operate them. This means that students in developing countries seldom have the opportunity for hands-on training in these techniques. Samples requiring analysis often have to be sent to laboratories in Europe or America, often at great expense.   

Dr Lancaster and his team’s work in Africa has addressed these issues by providing advanced equipment and training to over 700 African scientists and students. They have established hubs of excellence in Chemistry Departments in Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria and a cohort of highly trained scientists who are themselves now training others. This work is now resulting in more people being trained and publications of scientific papers directly attributable to the training.   

The training is given free of charge at the point of use and many people who otherwise would not have access to this resource have benefited. Environmental analysis has provided important data on the quality of air and drinking water and for the preservation of endangered species, specifically African Vultures. 

Biography

Dr Steve Lancaster has a PhD in Analytical Chemistry and leads the Product Line Support Group at Domino Printing Sciences. His interests include chromatography, mass spectrometry and Process Analysis. He has published over 25 peer reviewed papers, book chapters and has co-authored a textbook on GC-MS. He is actively involved with the Royal Society of Chemistry and has served as an elected member of the Analytical Division Council. He is currently on the Steering Committee and the Industrial Management Board at Centre for Process Analytics & Control Technology (CPACT).

Dr Lancaster founded the charity, Foundation for Analytical science and Technology in Africa (FASTA). FASTA funded the first GC-MS in Professor Anthony Gachanja’s group in Nairobi in 2006.  Since then, Dr Lancaster, Professor Gachanja and Professor Mathias Schafer (Cologne University) have delivered a series of renowned GC-MS training courses across Africa, supported by the RSoC’s Pan Africa Chemistry Network (PACN). More instruments have since been funded, and the courses have reached over 700 scientists across Africa. The original three trainers have now become many and include several Africans who were amongst the first trainees. These cover Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana, ensuring sustainability and capacity building into the future right across Africa.      

Dr Lancaster is an enthusiastic cyclist and, along with many others, raises funds for this work by embarking on sponsored walks, half marathons and cycling trips. The most recent event was cycling from London to Paris. 

Go for it and always get involved in going the extra mile. Always ask questions and you will find that people will be delighted to share their knowledge with you. 

Dr Steve Lancaster