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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

Heather Sprenger
PhD

Associate Professor

Faculty of Health Sciences

Contact information

U5 Building - Room 23
North Oshawa
2000 Simcoe Street North
Oshawa, ON L1G 0C5

905.721.8668

heather.sprenger@ontariotechu.ca

Research topics

  • physiology
  • exercise
  • metabolism
  • environmental physiology
  • performance

Research and Expertise

  • Background and Interests

    Dr. Heather Sprenger completed her graduate work at the University of Guelph in the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Lawrence Spriet. Dr. Sprenger’s research was funded by the Gatorade Sport Science Institute, where she investigated the impact of mild dehydration on substrate oxidation, skeletal muscle metabolism, and performance. 

    Since 2013, she was Lead of Sport Physiology and Research and Innovation at the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario, where she provided physiology consulting to National and Provincial Sport Organizations, and conducted applied sport research with the goal to mitigate performance and knowledge gaps by answering key questions impacting athlete and coach success. As a two-sport National Team member in both ice hockey and road cycling, Dr. Sprenger applies her experience and knowledge as an athlete, coach, applied practitioner and researcher to the areas of nutritional and environmental physiology to enhance training adaptation and performance. 

  • Publications

    Logan-Sprenger H.M., G.J.F Heigenhauser, & L.L.Spriet. (2015). The effects of dehydration on muscle metabolism and time trial performance during prolonged cycling in males. Physiological Reports. 3:8:1-13.

    Logan-Sprenger H.M., G.J.F Heigenhauser, & L.L.Spriet. (2013). Increase in skeletal-muscle glycogenolysis and perceived exertion with progressive dehydration during cycling in hydrated men. International Journal of Sports Medicine, Nutrition, Metabolism. 23:3:220-9

    Logan-Sprenger H.M., G.J.F Heigenhauser, & L.L.Spriet. (2012). Effects of dehydration during cycling on skeletal muscle metabolism in females. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 44:10:1947-57.

    Logan-Sprenger H.M., Palmer M.S., Spriet L.L. (2011). Estimated fluid and sodium balance and drink preferences in elite male junior players during an ice hockey game. Appl Physiol, Nutr, & Metabol. 36:1:145-52.

    Quadrilatero, J., Bombardier, E., Norris, S.M., Talanian, J.L., Palmer, M.S., Logan, H.M., Tupling, A.R., Heigenhauser, G.J.F., Spriet, L.L. (2010). Prolonged moderate intensity aerobic exercise does not alter apoptotic signaling and DNA fragmentation in human skeletal muscle. Amer J Physiol Endoc Metabol, 298: E534-547.

  • Research collaborators
    • Canadian Sport Institute Ontario
  • Courses taught
    • HLSC 4482
    • HLSC 2210
    • HLSC 4490
  • Education

    PhD: University of Guelph, Human Health and Nutritional Sciences