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Alexander Petroff

Associate Professor, Physics

APetroff@clarku.edu

CV

Alexander Petroff is an experimental physicist who uses hydrodynamics and reaction diffusion equations to understand the organization, dynamics, and evolution of microbial systems in table-top experiments. He has previously published several studies on the growth and geometry of river networks and stromatolites.
Degrees
- Ph.D. in Geophysics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011
- B.A. in Physics and Mathematics, Carleton College, 2006
Affiliated Department(s)
- Physics Department
Scholarly and Creative Works
Scroll to top.
- Presentations
  
  Adapting to Life in a Diffusive Gradient
  
  Physical Mathematics Seminar
  
  ●
  
  MIT
  
  April
  
  ●
  
  2023
  
  Sponsored by MIT
  
  Alexander Petroff
- Article in Refereed Journal
  
  Scattering and Trapping of a Fast-Swimming Bacteria
  
  Physical Review Fluids
  
  ●
  
  2023
  
  Alexander Petroff
  ,
  Schuyler McDonough
- Presentations
  
  Active Chiral Matter in Physics and Biology
  
  Physics Department Seminar
  
  ●
  
  U Mass Amherst
  
  Dec
  
  ●
  
  2022
  
  Alexander Petroff
- Presentations
  
  Life in Mud
  
  Nature and Numbers
  
  ●
  
  MIT
  
  June
  
  ●
  
  2022
  
  Sponsored by MIT
  
  Alexander Petroff
- Presentations
  
  Formation of Active Two-Dimensional Fluids by Multicellular Magnetotactic Bacteria
  
  University of Chicago Department Seminar
  
  ●
  
  Chicago
  
  April
  
  ●
  
  2022
  
  Alexander Petroff
- Presentations
  
  Formation of Active Two-Dimensional Fluids by Multicellular Magnetotactic Bacteria
  
  APS March Meeting
  
  ●
  
  Chicago
  
  MArch
  
  ●
  
  2022
  
  Sponsored by APS
  
  Alexander Petroff
  ,
  Pradeep Kumar
  ,
  Ben Roque
  ,
  Alejandra Calderon
- Presentations
  
  Relaxation of a natural microbial ecosystem to a metabolic steady state
  
  APS March Meeting
  
  ●
  
  Chicago
  
  MArch
  
  ●
  
  2022
  
  Sponsored by APS
  
  Alexander Petroff
  ,
  Oshani Fernando
- Presentations
  
  Oxygen Dynamics in a Vertically Stratified Microbial Community
  
  APS March Meeting
  
  ●
  
  Chicago
  
  MArch
  
  ●
  
  2022
  
  Sponsored by APS
  
  Alexander Petroff
  ,
  Ben Roque
- Presentations
  
  Scattering of a fast-swimming bacterium off of a surface
  
  APS March Meeting
  
  ●
  
  Nashville
  
  March
  
  ●
  
  2021
  
  Sponsored by American Physical Society
  
  Alexander Petroff
  ,
  Schuyler McDonough
- Presentations
  
  Collective Dynamics of Multicellular Magnetotactic Bacteria
  
  APS MArch Meeting
  
  ●
  
  Nashville
  
  May
  
  ●
  
  2021
  
  Sponsored by American Physical Society
  
  Alexander Petroff
  ,
  Alejandra Calderon
  ,
  Ben Roque
- Presentations
  
  Formation and Dynamics of Active Crystals by Fast-Swimming Bacteria
  
  Department Seminar at Matière et Systèmes Complexes
  
  ●
  
  Paris Diderot (remote)
  
  May
  
  ●
  
  2021
  
  Alexander Petroff
- Presentations
  
  Hydrodynamics of sediment microbes
  
  Environmental Science Seminar Series at Ralph M Parsons Laboratory
  
  ●
  
  MIT
  
  NOV
  
  ●
  
  2020
  
  Sponsored by MIT
  
  Alexander Petroff
- Presentations
  
  Collective Dynamics of Fast Swimming Bacteria Near a Surface
  
  Dartmouth College
  
  ●
  
  Dartmouth College
  
  Jan
  
  ●
  
  2020
  
  Alexander Petroff
- Presentations
  
  Structure and Dynamics of Microbial Ecosystems in Sediment
  
  The Joshua Lederberg–John von Neumann Symposium: Towards Quantitative Biology
  
  ●
  
  The Rockefeller University
  
  Nov
  
  ●
  
  2019
  
  Sponsored by Rockefeller University and Institute for Advanced Study
  
  Alexander Petroff
- Presentations
  
  Particle kinetics and collective dynamics in chiral gasses, fluids, and crystals
  
  APS March Meeting
  
  ●
  
  ●
  
  Alexander Petroff
  ,
  Whittington Whittington
  ,
  Arshad Kudrolli
- Article in Refereed Journal
  
  Ecosystems self-organize to capture atypically large energy through coupled redox transformations
  
  PNAS
  
  Akshit Goyal
  ,
  Avi Flamholz
  ,
  Alexander Petroff
  ,
  Arvind Murugan
- Article in Refereed Journal
  
  Density Mediated Spin Correlations Drive Edge to Bulk Flow Transition in Active Chiral Matter
  
  Physical Review E
  
  Alexander Petroff
  ,
  Christopher Wittington
  ,
  Arshad Kudrolli
- Article in Refereed Journal
  
  Phases of Active Matter Composed of Multicellular Magnetotactic Bacteria Near a Hard Surface
  
  Phys Rev Fluids
  
  Alexander Petroff
  ,
  Alejandra Calderon
  ,
  Ben Roque
  ,
  Pradeep Kumar
Awards & Grants
- CAREER: Experimental Investigation of Morphogenesis and Locomotion of Multicellular Magnetotactic Bacteria
  
  National Science Foundation
  
  Aug. 15, 2021
- CAREER: Experimental Investigations of the Growth, Form, and Motion of Multicellular Magnetotactic Bacteria
  
  National Science Foundation
  
  Jan. 1, 2020
- Experimental Investigation of Oxygen Dynamics in Natural Sediment
  
  American Chemical Society
  
  Aug. 29, 2019

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