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The Environment Corps program at the University of Connecticut approaches community engagement by combining teaching, service learning, and extension work. This model of engagement harnesses the power of trained undergraduates in conducting meaningful and actionable projects for communities, building on the topical knowledge, outreach experience, and community contacts of seasoned extension professionals, and in turn expanding the reach of their programs. Over 175 projects have been completed in partnership with 96 municipalities, nonprofits, or other entities. The program has documented benefits to both students and partner communities. The program team is interested in assisting others to adapt the model. 

Fano resonances are ubiquitous phenomena appearing in many fields of physics, e.g., atomic or molecular photoionization, or electron transport in quantum dots. Recently, attosecond interferometric techniques have been used to measure the amplitude and phase of photoelectron wave packets close to Fano resonances in argon and helium, allowing for the retrieval of the temporal dynamics of the photoionization process. In this work, we study the photoionization of argon atoms close to the $3s^{1}3p^{6}4p$autoionizing state using an interferometric technique with high spectral resolution. The phase shows a monotonic $2\pi$variation across the resonance or a nonmonotonic less than $\pi$variation depending on experimental conditions, e.g., the probe laser bandwidth. Using three different, state-of-the-art calculations, we show that the measured phase is influenced by the interaction between final states reached by two-photon transitions. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

An extensive faculty partnership at the University of Connecticut (UConn) that reaches across college and departmental lines is engaged in a project that seeks to enhance, expand, institutionalize, and study a new model for community engagement. The model, called the Environment Corps (E-Corps), combines the familiar elements of classroom instruction, service-learning, and extension outreach to create a method of engagement that aims to benefit students, faculty, surrounding communities, and the university community itself. This article describes the structure and history of E-Corps; details the institutional setting, faculty partnerships, and pedagogical strategies involved; and discusses early evidence of impacts and future prospects. 

Elementary processes associated with ionization of liquid water provide a framework for understanding radiation-matter interactions in chemistry and biology. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the dynamics of the hydrated electron, its partner arising from ionization of liquid water, H2O+, remains elusive. We used tunable femtosecond soft x-ray pulses from an x-ray free electron laser to reveal the dynamics of the valence hole created by strong-field ionization and to track the primary proton transfer reaction giving rise to the formation of OH. The isolated resonance associated with the valence hole (H2O+/OH) enabled straightforward detection. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the x-ray spectra are sensitive to structural dynamics at the ionization site. We found signatures of hydrated-electron dynamics in the x-ray spectrum. 

Elementary processes associated with ionization of liquid water provide a framework for understanding radiation-matter interactions in chemistry and biology. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the dynamics of the hydrated electron, its partner arising from ionization of liquid water, H 2 O + , remains elusive. We used tunable femtosecond soft x-ray pulses from an x-ray free electron laser to reveal the dynamics of the valence hole created by strong-field ionization and to track the primary proton transfer reaction giving rise to the formation of OH. The isolated resonance associated with the valence hole (H 2 O + /OH) enabled straightforward detection. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the x-ray spectra are sensitive to structural dynamics at the ionization site. We found signatures of hydrated-electron dynamics in the x-ray spectrum.