Busy February!

Whew! February has been very busy, but very good. I am very proud of all the opportunities that I was able to take!

To begin the month, I presented a talk on February 4 at the 2026 LERN (Learning Engineering Research Network) Convening called “Currents of Inquiry: Insights From Two Years of Real-World AI-Learner Water Conversations.” Here’s the abstract for that one:

Conversational AI systems increasingly contribute to informal STEM learning, yet little is known about how users frame questions and how chatbots reply in such settings. This study analyzes two years of text interactions between Waterbot and community users asking about water issues. Treating questions as signals of learners’ cognitive focus and epistemic stance, we conduct two analyses: we code question types and quantify readability, causal connectives, and lexical markers of certainty for both users and the AI. Overall, learning sessions remained short, with depth tied more to chatbot verbosity than to linguistic complexity or certainty. These findings offer a design baseline for conversational AI that supports learning complex issues. The observed asymmetries in length, complexity, and certainty point to levers for the next design cycle, such as briefer default answers and clearer pathways for follow-up questions. As an early-stage study grounded in real learner traces, this work informs iterative refinement of conversational systems for civic and scientific informal learning about water issues.

Thanks to Dr. Anqi Shao, who led the writing on this paper, and the rest of the team, who are coauthors on the paper. You can read that paper here.

My team and I then went to the Future of Learning Community (FOLC) Fest, where we presented WaterBot and RiverBot in the FOLC Expo on February 6. Thanks to the whole team for coming out and supporting the work! Thanks to Amber Hedquist for catching this picture of me in action:

We continued work at FOLC with a presentation on February 6 entitled “Flowing Like a River: Relational AI and Whole Body Knowing in Learning Innovation”:

What if AI could learn to flow like a river? This session introduces Relational AI through RiverBot, a technology grounded in Indigenous knowledge and the Whole Body Knowing framework. Unlike standard AI systems, Relational AI acts as a guide rather than an expert, building connection and understanding instead of prediction and control. Participants will explore its broad applications across education, research, and community partnerships, advancing ASU’s mission of Technology for Good through relationality, embodied learning, and access.

Thanks to co-presenters Natalie Parra Miguel, Tallia Robledo, Claire Lauer, and Liliana Caughman (who could not attend). Natalie and Tallia did a lot of work to get the presentation working, so very big thanks there.

Then! The Hispanic Leadership Institute‘s East Valley Cohort visited the Polytechnic Campus on February 19. I gave a two-hour talk on AI in the Workplace. I got to present in the new ISTB12 building, which was a very cool experience. I was very honored to have the cohort attend my campus!

Finally, I was given an immense opportunity to present WaterBot and RiverBot to the Arizona Board of Regents at the annual University Senate ABOR Breakfast. Such a huge honor! Thank you to Elisa Kawam and the University Senate for giving Claire Lauer and I the opportunity. Thank you also to Lance Gharavi and Sharon Chen for presenting on the panel with us. Finally, thanks to Aaron Hess for capturing this picture of us presenting.

Waterbot and Riverbot weren’t done yet, as Dr. Anqi Shao presented Waterbot at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2026 Annual Meeting on Feb 21. She then presented Waterbot to students from Westwood High School on February 26.

Amid ALL that, Waterbot was featured in an article about the Water Simmersive traveling museum’s public outreach to Black Canyon City. We’re honored to be a part of the Water Simmersive project! Thanks to Faith Kearns for the article.

Phew! What a month.