The Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Mona Campus, received a £200,000 grant from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for a major research initiative: the Advancing Commercial, Scalable Processing or Storage of Caribbean Sargassum Project. This innovative project explores the technical and economic feasibility of producing bioethanol from Sargassum, a macroalgae that has increasingly impacted Caribbean coastlines. The study focuses on optimising the bioconversion of Sargassum biomass through key processes such as enzymatic hydrolysis, saccharification, fermentation, and alginate extraction. Advanced analytical techniques, including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), are being used to assess compound composition and yield efficiency.
To date, the research team has successfully completed the majority of the experimental work, including seaweed collection, processing, and preliminary biochemical and economic analyses. The team is now focusing on final experimental and data analysis in preparation for the final project report, which is expected to be completed in the coming weeks. As part of the project’s outreach and knowledge-sharing component, team members will also travel to Belize, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, and Antigua and Barbuda to present their findings to regional stakeholders.
Project Team :
Lead Investigator:
- Dr Bhaskar Rao Chinthapalli, PhD. – Senior Lecturer, Department of Life Sciences
Co-Investigators:
- Professor Mona Webber, PhD. – Head of Department, Life Sciences
- Leneka Rhoden, B.Sc. – MPhil Candidate in Environmental Biology, Department of Life Sciences
Technical Researchers:
- Annmarie HoSang, Senior Lab Technician, Department of Life Sciences
- Rhian Gray, B.Sc. – MSc. Candidate in Forensic Molecular Biology, Department of Chemistry
- Ruth-Anne Vassell - Biochemistry Major (Undergrad), Department of Chemistry
Key Partners
In addition, the project's advisory board include:
- Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI)
- Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator
- Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM)
