Kathleen Dean Moore

Kathleen Dean Moore (born 1947 in Berea, Ohio) is an American philosopher, writer, and environmental activist associated with Oregon State University. Initially, her creative nonfiction focused on the cultural and spiritual significance of natural environments, particularly shorelines and islands. More recently, her work addresses the ethical dimensions of climate change. Moore earned her B.A. from Wooster College and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder. She joined the faculty at Oregon State University in 1992, where she taught various philosophy courses, including environmental philosophy, and held positions such as department chair and Distinguished Professor. She was instrumental in developing field courses and co-founded the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word, and the Long-Term Ecological Reflections Project. Moore also designed the Master of Arts in Environmental Arts and Humanities program at Oregon State. In 2013, she left academia to dedicate her full attention to writing and public speaking on climate action. Her early books were academic, including *Pardons: Justice, Mercy, and the Public Interest*. She later transitioned to nature writing with collections such as *Riverwalking*, *Holdfast*, *Pine Island Paradox*, and *Wild Comfort*. Her collaborative work includes *Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril* and *Great Tide Rising: Toward Clarity and Moral Courage in a Time of Planetary Change*. Moore's writing style is characterized by its seamless integration of philosophical inquiry and personal narrative, often described as 'narrative philosophy' or 'environmental phenomenology'. She lives in Corvallis, Oregon, and spends summers in Southeast Alaska. Her husband is a biologist, and her children are also academics in environmental fields.