Sarah White-Springer

Sarah H. White is a the Link Endowed Chair in equine science and an associate professor of equine physiology in the equine section of the Department of Animal Science. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida (UF), specializing in Equine Industry. She stayed at UF for her Master’s and Doctoral degrees, focusing on Equine Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. Upon completion of her PhD, Dr. White completed 2 years of post-doctoral training in muscle physiology in the College of Health Sciences at the University of Kentucky (UK). During her time at UK, Dr. White had 2 primary research interests: 1) investigating the role of skeletal muscle satellite cells during hypertrophy in growing and mature mice, and 2) characterizing the lower limb skeletal muscle in patients with peripheral artery disease with the aim of developing non-invasive interventions to improve quality of life.

Dr. White’s main passion is discovering means by which to improve performance and reduce injury in equine athletes. Her primary focus is mitochondrial adaptations to diet and exercise, and skeletal muscle bioenergetics. Dr. White teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Equine Exercise Physiology and Equine Nutrition. She also advises Animal Science MS and PhD graduate students.

During her undergraduate and graduate careers, Dr. White was awarded top honors in the Undergraduate, Graduate Nutrition, and Graduate Exercise Physiology sections of oral presentation competitions at the bi-annual Equine Science Society meetings. In addition to her academic pursuits, Dr. White is an avid equestrienne, competing in upper level dressage with her own mare. The pair has received two National Top Ten awards and over 50 Regional Championships, Reserve Championships, and Top Five awards.