Chemical analysis is traditionally done in a laboratory, using assays that may involve various levels of liquid handling that may require a high level of skills, which combined with high instrument cost makes chemical analysis costly. Additionally, environmental samples need to be collected in the field, and transported to the laboratory which may case decay. A possible solution is to move the laboratory instrumentation to the field. The focus of this presentation is the development of a field-deployable ion analysis system, a product that is currently under development by Ecodetection. The presentation will provide insight of the research taking place over 15 years, with advances in instrument engineering and design all provided by engineering firm Grey innovation. The fluidic innovations enabling the translation of well-established bench top techniques into autonomous analysers is discussed in detail with the aim to inspire collaborative initiatives that allow researchers to spend less time on sample collection and more time on data interpretation and hypothesis building to underpin informed decision making.