Kathleen Dean Moore, Ph.D.Nobel Conference 48

Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and founding director, Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word, Oregon State University, Corvallis

Environmental philosopher Kathleen Dean Moore writes about moral, spiritual, and cultural relationships to the natural world. In 2000 she founded the Spring Creek Project at Oregon State, which brings together the practical wisdom of the environmental sciences, the clarity of philosophy, and the emotive power of the written word to re-imagine humankind’s relation to the natural world. In addition to her philosophical writing for professional journals, Moore is the author of several books of nature essays, including Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature; Riverwalking; and The Pine Island Paradox, winner of the Oregon Book Award.

A graduate of Wooster College (1969), Moore earned her M.A. (1972) and Ph.D. (1977) from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in the philosophy of law, with a focus on the nature of forgiveness and reconciliation. At Oregon State, she teaches environmental ethics, the philosophy of nature, and a variety of courses for OSU’s new master’s program in environmental leadership. She is also co-author of a new Environmental Humanities Initiative, which integrates science and humanities to provide leadership for complex times.