Christopher Petroff

cpetroff.net

About Me

Originally from Connecticut, I am currently a chemistry graduate student working on piezoelectrics for Professor Geoffrey Hutchison at the University of Pittsburgh. Previously, I attended Boston College where I majored in chemistry and minored in math; much of my time was spent in the chemistry lab researching metal–organic frameworks for Professor Frank Tsung. Besides chemistry, I have interests in running, nature/ecology, hiking, and photography.

Find me on Google Scholar, ORCID, Athlinks, Strava, Smashrun, Flickr, 500px, YouTube, and GitHub.

ACS Student Chapter of Boston College

During the summer of 2014, a few friends and I restarted the American Chemical Society (ACS) Student Chapter on campus. While a chemistry club has existed on campus since 1926 and been recognized by ACS since 1947, the club had not been active for nearly a decade. The club’s goal is to build a better sense of community among chemistry majors and create a low-key environment where they can gather in a non-academic setting. During my senior year, I served as the chapter’s Vice President and Webmaster. For more information, please visit the chapter’s website: bc.chem.club.

Camp Workcoeman

I worked at Camp Workcoeman, a Boy Scout camp in New Hartford, Connecticut, every summer from 2008 until 2015. I worked in the Nature Lodge for my first four summers before serving as the director of the Tenderfoot’s Compass program for three summers; I spent my final summer working as a Camp Comissioner. The Tenderfoot’s Compass is a program for first year Scouts to work together as a patrol and learn many of the skills they need to achieve the ranks on Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class. Camp has a special place in my heart and is where I have made many of my best friends. For more information, please visit the camp’s website: campworkcoeman.org.

Running

In high school, I ran cross country and long distance track. My senior year, I finished third in the Founders League Cross Country Championship. On the track, I mainly ran the 1500 meter and the 3000 meter; I placed ninth at New Englands in the latter. After high school, I took up marathoning. I have run eleven marathons, including the Boston, Chicago, and New York Marathons. My best time is 2:36:57 which is an average pace of 5:59 per mile for the 26.22 miles. As a grad student, I now run with Pitt Club XC. You can find my times on Athlinks.

Cedar Strip Canoe

In the spring of my senior year of high school at Taft, I built a cedar strip canoe as my senior project. The canoe is made out of thin strips of cedar glued together and covered with a fiberglass and epoxy sheath.

Steaming hardwood strips for the bow/stern Hardwood strips bent over bow form Preparing to glue the bow/stern Glued bow strips Cut cedar strips Canoe molds on strongback Planking the canoe Planking the canoe Sanding outside of hull Fiberglass cloth on outside of hull Applying epoxy to outside of hull Nearly completed outside of hull Hand sanding inside of hull Hand sanding inside of hull Applying epoxy to inside of hull Canoe with unfinished gunwales and thwart installed Nearly completed canoe at Senior Project Museum. Credit: Taft School / Phil Dutton Finished canoe in Potter's Pond at Taft Finished canoe in Potter's Pond at Taft