From Sargassum To Oxford: Resa B. Nelson Is Turning Caribbean Problems Into Global Solutions

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Nov. 18, 2025: When Antigua’s Resa B. Nelson ’26 first stepped into a biology lab at Hofstra University, she had no idea that the Caribbean crisis she grew up witnessing – mountains of odorous sargassum swallowing beaches across the region — would become the foundation of groundbreaking research that would ultimately send her to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

Antiguan researcher Resa Nelson, r., of Hofstra, turns sargassum biofuel research into a global mission, earning a Rhodes Scholarship and advancing Caribbean climate solutions.

What began as a regional environmental nuisance has transformed into the launchpad for one of the Caribbean’s most promising young scientific minds.

Nelson, 21, is the second Rhodes Scholar ever selected from Antigua and one of only nine finalists representing the Commonwealth Caribbean. Her journey, however, is deeply rooted in home — in the seaweed that continues to choke the coasts of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica, and much of the wider region.

Under the mentorship of Hofstra Biology Professor Dr. Javier Izquierdo, Nelson began researching how sargassum — the same brown algae that fuels tourism complaints — could be converted into biofuels and other bioproducts. What most Caribbean governments still view as a waste management nightmare, Nelson approached as a potential renewable energy source.

“Hofstra has given me the technical skills and mental fortitude to pursue the work I want to do in the world,” she said. “And the research I hope to continue beyond Hofstra.”

Her curiosity and discipline opened doors far beyond Nassau Hall.

Nelson spent the summer of 2024 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, examining how T-cells detect cancerous cells. The following summer, she delved into neuroscience at the University of California Irvine, exploring how glycosylation genes affect brain function.

But it is her Caribbean-centered research — turning sargassum into energy — that most clearly positions her to help solve one of the region’s most urgent climate challenges.

For Nelson, discovery is joy.
“I just love cell biology,” she laughed. “If I’m in a tissue culture room… that’s a perfect day.”

Her professors say that love of discovery is matched only by her commitment to purpose.

“Resa is an outstanding student, but even more important, she’s an outstanding person,” said Dr. Izquierdo. “Her service, leadership, and research all come together. That made her a fantastic Rhodes candidate.”

Nelson’s selection also reflects a growing reality: the Caribbean is producing a new generation of scientists who see climate change not as an abstract problem, but as a daily lived experience requiring home-grown solutions.

For Nelson, that mission is personal.

Growing up in St. Peter, she watched sargassum wash into Antigua’s northern shoreline year after year — damaging fisheries, suffocating beaches, and threatening coastal ecosystems. Her research represents a shift in thinking: instead of treating sargassum as waste, treat it as a resource.

A challenge can become a solution.
A crisis can become an opportunity.
And a region can produce the innovators needed to lead that shift.

Her path to Oxford also carries symbolic weight. Nelson once performed at Christ Church as part of the Antigua & Barbuda Youth Symphony Orchestra. The institution’s historical ties to colonialism pushed her to imagine what it would mean for a young Caribbean woman to study there on her own terms.

“If the labor of my forefathers and foremothers helped build that institution,” she reflected, “it would be meaningful for me to learn there.”

At Oxford, Nelson plans to continue her work at the intersection of biology, climate science, and renewable energy — work that could directly impact the Caribbean’s future.

Beyond the lab, she mentors middle school students, tutors struggling learners, and holds tightly to the faith-driven principle of service her father instilled in her.

“My research is how I serve,” she said. “It’s how I plan to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.”

With Hofstra recently earning the R2 research designation from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, Nelson’s achievement also signals the rising strength of university-supported innovation coming out of immigrant communities and small island states.

And if her mentors are correct, this is only the beginning.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Dr. Izquierdo said, “if one day we’re talking about Resa not only as a Rhodes Scholar, but as a corporate leader or even a Nobel Prize winner.”

From the shores of Antigua to the laboratories of Oxford, Nelson is proving that the Caribbean doesn’t just face climate problems — it can produce the scientists who solve them.