BEYOND THE PAPER:
HOW CMU IS BUILDING RESEARCH THAT SHAPES INDUSTRY, INFORMS DECISIONS, AND PREPARES THE WORKFORCE
"When President [Andrew] Spencer came, he asked to meet with me because he had seen that I was publishing,” Dr Andrea Clayton recalls. “From that conversation, we looked at what the University would need to build a research portfolio.”
That conversation marked the beginning of a shift at the Caribbean Maritime University - one that is redefining what research looks like within a specialised maritime institution.
At the CMU, research is being deliberately structured to solve real problems in maritime, logistics, and national development and, increasingly, to influence how industry operates, how decisions are made, and how students are prepared for the workforce.
As chair of the Research Implementation Committee (RIC), Dr. Clayton has been central to that transition. The work, she explains, did not begin with outputs, but with capacity.
A skills audit revealed that while there was interest in research, there was not yet a deeply embedded research culture. The first phase, therefore, focused on building that foundation - training staff, strengthening confidence, and helping researchers move from ideas to structured, publishable work.
“We spent the time training,” she says. “And at the same time, we were engaging industry, engaging staff, trying to find that alignment.”
That alignment - between what CMU studies and what the maritime and logistics sectors actually need - has become the defining principle of the University’s research direction under Professor Spencer.
Rather than encouraging broad or disconnected topics, the RIC has been guiding staff to anchor their work in the CMU’s core mandate. Research is not just about leadership, for example, but leadership within maritime contexts. Not just logistics, but logistics challenges specific to Jamaica and the Caribbean.
The approach is intentional: research must lead somewhere. That shift is already producing results. Increased publication output, improved University rankings, and the hosting of the University’s first research symposium signal growing momentum. But for Dr. Clayton, those are indicators - not the end goal. The real measure of success is whether the work is being used.
“At the CMU, success is when organisations like the Maritime Authority of Jamaica or the International Maritime Organization are coming to us because they need research to help solve a real problem,” she says.
That moment came into sharp focus through work on the decarbonisation of the shipping industry. Dr. Clayton and Dr. Kahuina Miller, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Technology, FEAT, were asked to produce research to help inform Caribbean negotiators ahead of discussions in the United Kingdom on the costs and implications of moving toward net-zero shipping.
For the first time, regional representatives entered those negotiations with data that reflected their realities.
“That was when I realised how critical this was,” she says. “We were actually seeing the work we were doing making a difference in real time.”
This kind of application where research directly informs policy, industry direction, and regional
positioning - is exactly what CMU is working to expand. It is also reflected in the type of research now emerging across the institution. Dr. Racquel Wright is studying sargassum — not just as a nuisance, but as a resource. Backed by international grant funding, her research looks at what the seaweed stores, what it might heal, and what economic and scientific value it could unlock.
For Dr. Clayton, this is precisely the kind of research the CMU should be producing: grounded in real-world issues, relevant to national and regional needs, and capable of generating practical outcomes
“This is a practical institution,” she explains. “so the research coming out of it has to be practical, applicable, and relevant to industry.”
That philosophy extends beyond solving today’s problems. It is also about preparing people to continue the work. As research becomes more embedded in the University, it is also shaping how students are trained - exposing them to applied thinking, industry-relevant challenges, and the realities of problem-solving within the maritime space.
The result is not just research output, but a pipeline: individuals being trained within a system that is actively engaging with industry and national development.
Still, Dr. Clayton is clear that sustaining this direction requires more than intention. Research must be supported by systems - funding structures, procurement processes suited to research timelines, access to tools and data, and continued institutional commitment.
“If we want research to be taken seriously,” she says, “there has to be a shift in how we support it.”
That shift is already underway. But the vision is larger. For Dr. Clayton, the CMU’s role is not simply to contribute to academic knowledge, but to function as a centre of applied expertise - a university whose work informs decisions, strengthens industry, and creates solutions that extend well beyond its walls.
“A university should not exist just for itself,” she says. “It exists to solve problems.”
TURNING A MENACE INTO A RESOURCE
HOW CMU RESEARCH IS RETHINKING THE SARGASSUM PROBLEM
“I would go to Hellshire with my friends, and some days there was so much seaweed you could hardly get into the water.”
For CMU Researcher Dr. Racquel Wright, the issue of sargassum was not abstract. It was personal.
Living in Kingston, the south coast beaches were her closest escape. But over time, those outings became increasingly frustrating as thick layers of seaweed covered the shoreline, sometimes forcing swimmers to wade far out just to find clear water.
“That’s what brought my attention to it,” she says. “And as a scientist, I kept asking - what can we do with this?”
At the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU), that question forms part of a broader shift - moving research beyond theory and into real-world application. Dr. Wright’s work on sargassum is one example of how that shift is taking shape.
Rather than viewing sargassum solely as a problem, her research explores its potential as a resource.
“It’s something nobody really wants,” she explains. “So, I started looking at whether there was any nutritional, medicinal or other value we could get from it.”
Through a grant-funded project under the Our Shared Oceans Programme, supported by the Irish Aid through the Marine Institute, Dr. Wright and her team are working alongside regional and international partners, including the University of the West Indies and the Atlantic Technological University in Ireland. The research initiative, which also includes CMU President, Professor Andrew Spencer, brings together expertise across
institutions to address sustainability and ocean governance challenges.
The work is practical and hands-on. It involves collecting and processing sargassum, analysing its carbon storage potential, and testing for antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.
“We’re looking at whether it could be used for things like inflammation, or even as part of broader pharmaceutical applications,” she says.
But the implications extend beyond the lab.
Across Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, sargassum continues to affect coastal communities, tourism operators, and marine ecosystems. In many cases, it is burned or discarded.
Dr. Wright sees a different possibility.
“If people understood that it has value, they wouldn’t treat it as waste,” she says. “You could have industries forming around it - small businesses, processing, even manufacturing.”
That potential, she notes, could create new economic opportunities, particularly in coastal and rural communities where sargassum is most prevalent.
“It’s already there,” she says. “We don’t have to grow it. The question is - how do we use it?”
The research is ongoing, but the direction is clear: transforming what is widely seen as a nuisance into something useful.
For Dr. Wright, it reflects the kind of work CMU is increasingly prioritising - practical, industry-relevant research rooted in real challenges.
“Sargassum is something everybody sees,” she says. “The goal is to take what we have and find a way to make it work for us.”
RESEARCH THAT PREPARES US FOR WHAT’S COMING:
WHY THE CMU’S RESEARCH FOCUS IS SHIFTING TOWARD REAL-WORLD IMPACT
“Our environment is changing - and it’s changing quickly.”
For Vice President, Academic Affairs and Accreditation, Dr. Yvonne Dawkins, the urgency behind research at the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) is not theoretical. It is rooted in the realities of living in a small island state.
From hurricanes and earthquakes to shifting coastlines and marine ecosystems, she points to a single, defining factor: vulnerability.
“We are in a maritime environment, and that environment is volatile,” she explains. “The more we understand what is happening and how it affects us, the better prepared we are to respond.”
At the CMU, that understanding is shaping how research is being approached. Increasingly, the focus is not just on generating knowledge, but on connecting that knowledge to real-world challenges and anticipating problems before they fully emerge.
“Our researchers are not just doing academic work,” Dr. Dawkins says. “They are connecting research to the real issues we face - in our economy, our environment, and our everyday lives.”
Central to this shift is the recognition that maritime research sits at the intersection of multiple realities - human activity, environmental change, logistics, and industry.
“It’s about the connection between what we do as people and what is happening in our maritime space,” she says. “And that places CMU in a unique position.”
That position, she notes, creates opportunity - particularly through collaboration.
“The biggest opportunity for impact is in how we work together,” she says, pointing to partnerships with regional institutions, industry stakeholders, and maritime agencies across the Caribbean.
From port operations to maritime security, these collaborations are already shaping how research informs practice across the region.
But for Dr. Dawkins, the shift goes deeper than partnerships.
“There has to be a mindset change,” she says. “Research cannot just be about producing papers or academic output. It has to lead to solutions.”
That shift is also about preparing the next generation.
“Our students must see themselves as part of that process,” she adds. “They are not just learning - they are being equipped to contribute to real-world solutions.”
As environmental, technological, and economic changes continue to reshape the region, she believes the role of institutions like CMU will only become more critical.
“This is not the same world we were in five or ten years ago,” she says. “And it will continue to change.”
The response, she suggests, must be equally dynamic - grounded in research that does not sit on paper, but actively informs how the Caribbean prepares for what comes next.