Sarah White

Professor, Water Quality and Treatment; and Nursery Extension Specialist
Horticulture Program Team, Water Resources Program Team, Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, SC Water Resources Center, Biological Sciences Department

Office: 167 P&A
Phone: 864-656-7433

Email: swhite4@clemson.edu
Vita: Download CV

Educational Background

PhD Environmental Toxicology
Clemson University 2007

MS Horticultural Science
Virginia Tech 2003

BS Horticulture
Clemson University 2000

Profile

White and her laboratory work to evaluate the use of plant and bio-based treatment technologies to manage nutrients, pesticides, and plant pests carried in irrigation water. She is particularly interested in helping growers clean water so that it can be reused on-farm. Her lab currently focuses on use of floating treatment wetlands to manage nutrients in ponds and reservoirs - both for farm water and urban stormwater management. Her lab has screened 20+ species of plants for nutrient uptake capacity and tolerance of salinity to bettter guide floating treatment wetland design. Her lab is also developing floating treatment wetlands using non-plastic materials for flotation to provide alternatives where introduction of plastics to waters are undesirable. This work is funded via a NOAA Marine Debris project through the SC SeaGrant Consortium ($2.6M, 2023-26)

She directed (2014-2019) a national team of researchers from 10 universities that received $8.2 million in funding from USDA-Specialty Crops Research Initiative to evaluate Clean WateR3- Reduce, Remediate, Recycle: Informed Decision-Making to Facilitate Use of Alternative Water Resources and Promote Sustainable Specialty Crop Production.

Service: Consulting Editor - Land-Grant Press by Clemson Extension and Nursery Crops for the journal HortTechnology. Reviewer - multiple journals. Clemson University Faculty Senate Vice President (2024-25) and President (2025-26).

Professional Organizations: American Society for Horticultural Science (Vice President for Research 2023-25), and Southern Region American Society for Horticultural Science (President 2025-26), International Society for Horticultural Science, American Ecological Engineering Society, Society of Wetland Scientists, Universities Council for Water Resources.

Research Interests

White manages and conducts research projects and conveys information related to water management, water quality (chemical and biotic parameters), ecologically-based treatment technologies, and integrated pest management to green industry stakeholders. Investigates the applications of vegetation-based technologies (constructed wetlands, floating treatment wetlands, and vegetated buffers) for cleansing agrichemicals from encouraging reuse of production runoff.

White also advises graduate students and supervises undergraduate students.

Extension and Outreach

White is working to develop information resources for growers to help them make informed decisions related to water management and treatment. White's lab has published 116 trade articles, 38 extension documents, 31 conference proceedings, and 66 journal articles; and 8 decision support tools.

White co-founded and is a consulting editor for Land-Grant Press, a peer-reviewed outlet for stakeholder-focused information. She also serves as an Education Advisor for the SC Green Industry Association.

Publications

Jeffers, A., BK Behe, M Vassalos, WC Bridges, SA White. 2025. Evaluating Consumer Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Knowledge. HortTechnology. In-Press.
Escamilla, C, DR Tyrpak†, WHJ Strosnider, ‡SA White. Accepted 2025. Basil and Swiss chard: edible crops for use in floating treatment wetlands improving agricultural runoff. Ecological Engineering. pp 107546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107546
Escamilla, C, AE Scaroni, CG Wallover, SA White. 2025. Understanding resident design preferences and priorities for floating wetlands in coastal stormwater ponds. Urban Ecosystems. 28:1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01668-1
Dekle, J, WHJ Strosnider, SA White‡. 2024. "Removal of phosphorus from irrigation return flow using an iron oxide filter and denitrifying pine bark bioreactor treatment train.” Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 31:66435-66444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-35641-4
Bell, NL, NR Redekar, SN Jeffers, DR Hitchcock, JL Parke, SA White‡. 2024. “A model system to evaluate the potential of floating treatment wetlands to manage Phytophthora species in recycled irrigation water. Journal of Natural Resources and Agricultural Ecosystems. 2(3):103-118. https://doi.org/10.13031/jnrae.15949
Fields, JS, LL Nackley, JH Shreckhise, M Bampasidou, R Contreras, A Kantrovich, MJ Knuth, JS Owen, JR., SA White. 2024. How Natural Resources, Consumer Perceptions, and Labor are Transforming the U.S. Nursery Industry. HortTechnology. 34(4):424-429. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH05410-24
Strickland, G, D Sahoo, M Vassalos, H Nix, SA White. Accepted. Evaluation of South Carolina’s Extension and Outreach Agents’ Knowledge of Harmful Algal Bloom Management and the Impacts of One-Day Training. Journal of Extension.
Dekle, J, WHJ Strosnider, SA White‡. 2024. Phosphorus Uptake and Release Patterns in Overwintering Constructed Floating Wetlands. Water Science & Technology. 89(3):588 https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2024.010
Landaverde, AC, WHJ Strosnider, SA White‡. 2024. Plant Selections for Floating Treatment Wetland Applications in Brackish Waters. Ecological Engineering. 200:107183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107183
McKercher, L, ME Kimball, AE Scaroni, SA White, WHJ Strosnider. 2023. “Stormwater ponds serve as variable quality habitat for diverse taxa.” Wetlands Ecology and Management. 32:109-131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-023-09964-x
Jeffers, A., BK Behe, M Vassalos, WC Bridges, SA White. 2023. Consumer Purchase Likelihood of Landscape Management Pest Scouting Program. HortTechnology. 33(6): 493–498. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH05268-23
Sahoo, D, I Busari, HB Nix, SA White. 2024. Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms on Agriculture: A Short Communication. Journal of South Carolina Water Resources. 9(2):45-50.
Garcia Chance, LM, CR Hall, SA White‡. 2022. Viability assessment for the use of floating treatment wetlands as alternative production and remediation systems for nursery and greenhouse operations. Journal of Environmental Management. 305:114398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114398
Yazdi, MN, JS Owen, SW Lyon, SA White‡. 2021. A Critical Review of Irrigation Retention Reservoir Performance and Design Considerations to Enhance Water Security for Specialty Crops. Journal of Cleaner Production. 321:128925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128925
Bell, NL, SN Jeffers, SA White‡. 2021. Potential susceptibility of six aquatic plant species to infection by five species of Phytophthora. Plant Disease. 105(12):4074-4083. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-10-20-2190-RE

For a complete list of publications and citations see Dr. White's Google Schloar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=N6c1DT8AAAAJ

Links

Meet Sarah White