A Walk on the Wild Side

Wildlife expert Lynsey White (M.S. ’06, sustainable development and conservation biology) helps humans coexist with the wild animals in their neighborhoods, from bears and coyotes to deer and Canada geese.

While growing up in Columbus, Ohio, some of Lynsey White’s (M.S. ’06, sustainable development and conservation biology) favorite memories involved trips to her local zoo—especially one exhibit in particular.

“I would park myself in front of the gray wolves and watch them for quite some time, and one of the wolves would interact with me through the glass when other zoogoers weren’t around,” White reminisced. “This connection to an animal that was wild—yet similar in so many ways to the dogs we had growing up—was really impactful in the way that I viewed wildlife.”

Years later, White is breaking down the invisible barriers that pit people against wildlife. She now helps communities coexist more peacefully with a range of wild animals—from bears to coyotes to Canada geese—as the director of humane wildlife conflict resolution for Humane World for Animals, an organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., that was known as The Humane Society of the United States until February 2025.

For White, the goal is to recommend science-backed solutions that don’t result in lethal actions—an all too frequent outcome when communities feel fearful or frustrated with local wildlife. 

In her 15 years of working with Humane World for Animals, White also learned something unexpected about herself: One of the best parts of her job is not only helping animals but also working with people.

“I’ve always been an introvert, so it was surprising for me to realize that the most fulfilling part of my job is working with people,” she said. “I love working with animal control officers, police chiefs, mayors and other community leaders who can empower others with the knowledge and tools to solve conflicts with wildlife humanely and effectively.”

'Science-based solutions'

From an early age, White knew she wanted to pursue a career that involved animals, but she didn’t know what that could look like. 

“The only thing I did know is that I didn't want to be a veterinarian,” she said, “but I didn't know what other options there were for careers with animals.”

After starting college at the Ohio State University, White decided to major in zoology and “figure it out along the way.” While studying abroad with The School for Field Studies in Kajiado, Kenya, White interviewed local Maasai people about their interactions with wildlife—an experience that sparked a new interest and set her on a path to the University of Maryland. 

“That study abroad program not only grew my interest in wildlife conservation—especially at the international level—but also underscored the importance of working with people impacted by wildlife to find solutions that meet their needs,” White said. “When I was looking for a graduate program, UMD’s conservation biology and sustainable development program appealed to me because it combined so many topics that are necessary for international wildlife conservation.”

After earning her bachelor’s degree, White began graduate school at UMD in 2004 and discovered her “calling.” While taking a class on public policy and the environment, White realized she was often the only student who approached problems from an animal welfare perspective. Many of the case studies they analyzed involved killing one species of wildlife to benefit another, or to attempt to resolve conflicts with people.

“These case studies didn’t sit right with me, but I took comfort in the Humane World for Animals’ resources that were also included in the course materials,” White said. “In addition to placing inherent value on the lives of individual wild animals, their talking points and arguments provided science-based solutions to the root causes of problems we were investigating in the case studies.”

Additionally, urban wildlife courses taught by College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Adjunct Associate Professor Lowell Adams offered practical and humane solutions for resolving conflicts in more populated areas—a topic White became increasingly interested in. 

“I realized that urban and suburban areas provide unique opportunities to use non-lethal methods for solving conflicts with wildlife because, in most of these areas, hunting is not allowed and traps are unsafe,” White said. “There are a lot of innovative techniques that are humane and effective, and I was interested in learning more about those.”

A wild goose chase

Since joining Humane World for Animals in 2010 as an urban wildlife specialist and now as the director of humane wildlife conflict resolution, White has promoted many techniques that protect both humans and wildlife. She frequently hosts training sessions and webinars to share best practices with agencies that field calls from the public about wild animals.

Though White typically acts as an intermediary, she sometimes receives unusual calls related to wildlife complaints. One caller was concerned about a wild turkey in a Walmart parking lot that was “looking for someone to peck,” while another reported a “hyena” in Rock Creek Park that turned out to be a coyote with mange.

Some of the most common grievances concern Canada geese, which are mostly harmless but can act aggressively toward humans who approach their nests. More often, though, people complain about the “nuisance” of dealing with goose droppings in public spaces, White said. 

Some communities respond by rounding up and killing the geese in the summer when the birds briefly lose their flight feathers. To prevent this, White encourages humane alternatives, like using specially trained border collies to deter geese from areas where they’re unwanted.

“These specially trained ‘goose dogs’ wear life jackets and go in the water—along with human handlers in kayaks—to scare geese away,” White said. “This form of aversive conditioning is effective, especially when combined with our other recommended approaches, including modifying habitat around water bodies, stopping people from feeding geese and curtailing the growth rate of Canada goose populations through egg addling, which prevents eggs from hatching.”

‘A gentler approach’

White’s work also focuses heavily on coyotes, another species that is often killed by communities for nuisance reasons. In one of her first major projects at Humane World for Animals, White created a coyote management plan template for communities to enact or adapt to their needs. The plan helps to address the root cause of conflicts among coyotes, people and their pets by suggesting responses to various scenarios.

One humane tactic is to change the behaviors of coyotes that have grown too comfortable around humans. The management plan encourages people to remove food sources that may attract coyotes and, when needed, to adopt intervention strategies such as “hazing.” The latter can be as simple as shouting, banging on pots and pans, and spraying water or shining bright lights on coyotes that come too close.

“The village of Riverside, Illinois, was the first community to put in place our template coyote management plan,” White said. “This was a huge accomplishment for me because, at the time, most communities in the Chicago area were addressing conflicts with coyotes by hiring a trapper to kill them.”

Since then, dozens of communities across the U.S. have enacted this management plan. In the years ahead, White said her organization will continue to train, consult with and create resources that help community leaders and professionals humanely solve conflicts with urban wildlife. To date, nearly 800 shelters, agencies and organizations have pledged to humanely resolve conflicts with wildlife, and that number continues to grow.

Ultimately, White hopes her work will persuade the public to show more compassion toward the wild animals in their backyards—even when they create headaches for homeowners.

“To a raccoon, chimneys look similar to a hollowed tree that they would use as a den for their cubs, and the space underneath a deck looks like a great place for a fox to raise her kits,” White said. “These animals are not trying to harm or inconvenience us—they’re just trying to find food and raise their families. If people could see the behaviors of these species from that point of view, maybe they would take a gentler approach to conflicts with our wild neighbors.”