Ellen Davis holds online Office Hours April 9

In advance of Earth Day, Duke professor Ellen Davis will answer questions about Christian views on environmental issues in a live webcast "Office Hours" interview beginning at noon this Friday on Duke's Ustream channel.

Viewers can submit questions in advance or during the session by e-mail to live@duke.edu, on the Duke University Live Ustream page on Facebook or via Twitter with the tag #dukelive.

Davis was a contributor to the Green Bible, a 2008 publication of the Bible that highlights in green the passages pertaining to the relationship among God, creation and humanity. "My argument is simple," she writes in an essay in the book's preface. "The Old Testament offers indispensible insight into the sources of our current environmental crisis as well as guidance toward wiser and more faithful ways of relating to God's creation."

At Duke's Divinity School, Davis is the Amos Ragan Kearns Professor of Bible and Practical Theology. In assuming that position this year, she gave a lecture "The Poetry of Care and Loss" on how the Psalms and some modern poetry describe humans' relationship to the earth. She is the author of, most recently, "Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible."

Office hours at a university are times when professors leave their doors open for individuals to stop by and discuss issues such as current events and developments in their fields. Duke's "Office Hours" series aims to bring the expansiveness and sparkle of these conversations to anyone with an Internet connection and an interest in the ideas bubbling up at Duke. To date, topics have ranged from race and medicine to the New Testament, the legacy of Michael Jackson and the state of Muslim Americans since 9/11. You are invited to join the conversation.