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CORVALLIS - An Oregon State University professor and author has been selected to participate in a "writer-in-residence" program at the Island Institute in Sitka, Alaska, where she will spend April conducting workshops on writing and environmental ethics.

Kathleen D. Moore, professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy at OSU, also will travel by float plane to the outlying communities of Pelican, population 200; and Port Alexander, population 190, to work with high school students.

She is the author of "Riverwalking," a critically acclaimed series of essays exploring themes of family, self, time and place - all tied together through a theme of the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. Moore also has a forthcoming book called "Holdfast" - about the things we hold onto in life, from relationships to places, to memories about places - that will be published next February.

The Island Institute annually attracts established writers to Sitka for the program. Moore will speak to students about environmental ethics and how different groups can engage in "sustainable discourse."

"We'll explore questions such as: 'How do you discuss issues with someone when you fundamentally disagree with them?'" she said. "'How do you talk about moral dilemmas?' It is important to find common ground."

Between workshops and lectures, Moore said, she will be "holed up in a cabin in a cedar forest, writing."