Marian Asantewah Nkansah

Last updated
Marian Asantewah Nkansah
Marian Asantewah 2019.jpg
Born
Ghana
Education Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
University of Bergen
Scientific career
Fields Chemistry
Institutions Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Marian Asantewah Nkansah FGA is a Ghanaian environmental chemist. Her research work focuses on finding solutions to environmental problems associated with levels and fate of toxic substances such as heavy/trace metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in food, water, soil, rocks, sediments and other environmental samples. She also researches on the interaction of these pollutants with each other in the environment. In 2016, together with some scientists from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, she led a research which led to the confirmation that edible white clay poses potential cancer risk. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Nkansah was born in Ghana to Mary and Joseph Nkansah, both educationists. She had her primary and secondary school education at St. Anthony's Experimental School, Nkawkaw and the St. Roses Senior High School at Akwatia, respectively and all in the Eastern Region of Ghana. She then furthered at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where she acquired a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master's degree in Environmental Chemistry. She holds a PhD in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Bergen in Norway. [3] [4] [5]

Career

She is a Professor at the chemistry department of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where she teaches practical chemistry, nuclear/radiochemistry, chemistry and society, research methods and petroleum chemistry. [6]

In 2016, she became the first scientist to win the Fayzah M. Al-Kharafi Prize, an annual award that recognises exceptional women scientists from scientifically and technologically lagging countries. [7] She and Collins Obuah, another scientist from the University of Ghana, were the two scientist selected to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting in 2017. [8] In 2021, she was among five women recipients in developing countries of the OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards. She received the 2022 Africa Role Model Overall Female Personality Award, and was inducted as a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences the same year. [9]

She is a past warden of Africa Hall of Residence and was Deputy Director of Student Affairs in Charge of Housing and Welfare until November 2024, when she became the first Female Director of Student Affairs at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. [10] She serves on the executive committee of the International Year of Basic Science for Sustainable Development. Nkansah is a former executive member and alumna of the Global Young Academy. She has also served as a board member of the Ghana Geological Survey Authority and Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. [11] [4] [12] [13]

She was selected a Fellow of the International Science Council (ISC) in 2023. [14] She is the founder of the Women in Chemistry Network in 2024. [15]

Awards and recognition

Nkansah has been recognised and awarded for her work including: [16] [3] [4] [5]


References

  1. ↑ "White clay poses cancer risk - Researchers". Myjoyonline. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  2. ↑ "White clay poses cancer risk - Researchers | Health News 2019-03-12". GhanaWeb. Archived from the original on 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  3. 1 2 "Nkansah, Marian Asantewah". TWAS. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  4. 1 2 3 "NEF Fellow - Marian Asantewah Nkansah". Next Einstein Forum. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  5. 1 2 "Marian Asantewah Nkansah". IUPAC 100. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  6. ↑ "Cooking fuels in SHS kitchens impact adversely – Study". Ghanaweb.com. 14 October 2025. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  7. ↑ "Ghanaian researcher wins first Al-Kharafi Prize | General News 2016-11-16". GhanaWeb. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  8. ↑ "Two Ghanaian scientists selected for prestigious Nobel Laureates meeting". pulse ghana. 2017-06-20. Archived from the original on 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  9. ↑ GNA (2022-11-16). "Academy of Arts and Sciences inducts 15 new fellows". Ghana News Agency. Retrieved 2025-12-23.
  10. ↑ "KNUST's Prof Marian Asantewah Nkansah honoured by International Science Council - MyJoyOnline" . Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  11. ↑ GNA (2021-11-08). "Geological Survey investigating iron ore, limestone deposits to support GIISDEC projects". Ghana News Agency. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  12. ↑ "Marian Asantewah Nkansah". sheathe. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  13. ↑ "Marian Asantewah Nkansah's Profile |". Global Young Academy. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  14. ↑ "Marian Asantewah Nkansah". International Science Council. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  15. ↑ "Women in Chemistry Network established to bring together women in the chemical sciences - MyJoyOnline" . Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  16. ↑ "Nkansah Marian Asantewah | The AAS". aasciences africa. Archived from the original on 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  17. ↑ "Women in Chemistry Network established to bring together women in the chemical sciences - MyJoyOnline" . Retrieved 2025-12-23.
  18. ↑ "50 pupils of St. Joseph's R/C Primary get backpack filled with supplies from The Gaudete Institute - MyJoyOnline" . Retrieved 2025-12-23.
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