AAEE Learning Circle - AI and Environmental Education: can we be friends?

Please join us for our AAEE Learning Circle: AI and Environmental Education: can we be friends?

Facilitated by: Dr. Thili Wijesinghe (James Cook University) with Dr. Zachery (Zach) Quince (Southern Cross University)

When: Wed 15 October , 5:30–6:30pm QLD time

Where: Online via Zoom

Cost: These events are currently free for everyone. If you’re in a position to support us, we invite you to make a small donation during your registration 💚 Donations to the AAEE Public Fund are tax-deductible (over $2).

What:

AI is increasingly present in our classrooms, labs and community projects. It can offer new ways to simulate ecosystems, scaffold inquiry, and broaden access. Yet it also raises hard questions about energy and water use, e-waste, bias, data extraction, cultural integrity, and who benefits. In this Learning Circle, we’ll explore whether, and how, AI and environmental education can be in right relation.

This session is a conversation, not a how-to. We will surface possibilities and tensions through short provocations and educator-led exemplars, such as:

• Learning with a light footprint: choosing smaller/lower-impact tools when fit-for-purpose; designing “enough compute” activities; questioning when not to use AI.

• Ethics and equity in practice: discussing bias in text/image generation; consent, data governance, and student disclosure; ensuring meaningful opt-in/opt-out pathways.

• Assessment & participation: examples that prioritise judgement, dialogue, and evidence (e.g., critique clinics of AI outputs, oral defenses, field notes vs. generated media).

• Environmental accounting: simple ways to make ecological costs visible to learners (comparisons, reflection prompts, institution-aware choices).

Come ready to share questions, experiences, and dilemmas. We’ll leave with a clearer sense of what “friendship” between AI and environmental education might look like, and where boundaries matter.

Facilitator Bios

Dr. Thili Wijesinghe (JCU) is an Education Designer specialising in AI-infused, student-centred curriculum and assessment. Her work advances ethical, environmentally conscious AI practice and ensures opt-in/opt-out pathways so all students can participate meaningfully—whether they choose to use AI or not.

Dr. Zachery (Zach) Quince is an engineering education researcher, curriculum developer, and leader in higher education practice. His previous projects and skills are in programmatic assessment, professional skills development, and the ethical integration of generative AI in higher education. His projects range from equity in GenAI-generated images to indigenous knowledge and perspectives using GenAI in higher education. He is a father of two children under 3 and is currently doing all he can to upskill all SCU academics in the ethical use of GenAI.