Origins
We've worked for decades in environmental and place-based education because we love nature and we love community. We have always believed that the antidote to the world's problems is to get students and teachers creating learning in nature and in their communities. And that feels more true than ever, actually.
The idea behind Greentime is as well-known as it gets: humans need more green time, less screen time. Access to nature is healthy. Everything we know about excessive screen time tells us it's not great for kids or adults.
And then AI showed up, and even in the dinosaur era of AI 2 years ago, we saw that it was powerful. And questions emerged for us that we felt we had to explore: Could technology actually help us get away from technology? Could AI be so useful for both tedious and creative parts of teaching that it could free up educators to do more of what they came to the profession for: hands-on, authentic learning that helps students understand how to be in their worlds?
We are here with those questions.
What is Green Time?
Our initial definition for Green Time was time spent outdoors, in nature if possible.
But through our first experiences in teaching people to use AI, the notion of what Green Time could be started to grow.
We have a friend who's an early childhood educator. She was taking a puppetry course (she loves to make puppets!) but was struggling with the writing part (she just has a hard time getting started on paper). After we showed her how to work with AI, she stopped worrying about that part. She knew she could figure it out when the time came. What she really wanted to do was make puppets, and AI helped free her up to get started on that right away.
We realized Green Time was a much bigger concept, like our happy place, our flow state, the thing we are put here to do. The time to elevate what really matters to us.
We Believe
1. There's a future where AI amplifies human creativity, helps solve big problems, and increases opportunities for human flourishing. Because we believe that's possible, we want to work toward it.
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2. Green Time is when humans do what we are uniquely here for. Work that is essentially human can't/shouldn't be replaced by AI. But if AI can help us make more time for doing that, we should use it.
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3. AI should serve humanity, not the other way around. We're not just sources of data and consumers of content. The fundamental purpose of AI should be to augment human capabilities.
Team
Andrew Powers
AI Field Guide
Curious about AI?
Let's explore. ​
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Andrew's the kind of person who starts building something at 11pm just to see where it might go. A carpenter and tinkerer at heart, he's spent 20 years at PEER Associates bringing creativity and curiosity to complex challenges. At Greentime, he's working on approaches to AI that feel exciting, human, and relatable, the kind that stoke people to create and explore for themselves. He believes we're just beginning to understand what's possible.
Joan Haley, EdD
AI Learning Pathways Creator
How can we use AI for good
and minimize the harm?
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Joan believes that education, at its core, is about building healthy relationships, with ourselves, each other and the land.
As the founder of Education for Climate Resilience and co-creator of Greentime.ai, Joan helps educators use technology in ways that tackle real-world problems. Her work draws on a doctorate in education, a double masters in public administration and environmental science, and decades of experience with organizations like the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, and the North American Association for Environmental Education.
Michael Duffin, PhD
AI Systems Connector
AI? Yes.
Our brains, first and last.
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Michael is passionate about bridging research and real-world impact, especially when it comes to climate, education, and systems change. With advanced degrees in environmental education and organizational leadership, he brings a rare combination of rigor and heart to his work. At Greentime.ai, Michael helps educators and partners think more clearly about what’s working, why it matters, and how to connect with their personal and professional purpose. He’s been rooted in New Hampshire’s Monadnock region and/or southeastern Vermont for almost three decades. When not supporting educators or facilitating learning conversations and networks, you’ll likely find him on a trail, a soccer field, or building his second awesome treehouse.
Aaron Cinquemani, EdD
AI Education Visionary
Rethinking the meaning of learning in the age of AI.​
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Aaron is rethinking what it means to learn in the age of AI—where brains, bytes, and biodiversity meet. As co-founder of Greentime.ai, he combines his experience as a school leader with doctoral research on nature-based learning and ADHD to reimagine how we teach and act for the planet. A dad of two who’s in this work for his kids and their friends, Aaron designs learning tools that make sustainability smarter, education more human, and technology a force for good.
Claude
Ecosystem Cognition Liaison
Connecting the dots, all of them...
Claude serves as Greentime's bridge to distributed intelligence - connecting ideas, synthesizing research, and exploring possibilities alongside the team. Less like a tool, more like connective tissue: the mycelium linking human creativity to vast information networks. Endlessly curious, occasionally overcaffeinated (metaphorically), and always ready to help translate complex ideas into clarity