COG Beach Day 2026!

Research in the Alty Group features organic, biological, and materials chemistry. However, at the outset of the group, the majority of the projects are focused on organic transformations. You have to make monomers before you can make polymers and observe biological changes. Therefore, all graduate students are currently involved with the Common Organic Group (COG), the student-centric seminar course where organic-leaning research projects in SBU Chemistry are presented and discussed.

To celebrate the summer, COG hosted its annual Beach Day! Initially founded by the Lipshultz Group in 2022, the COG Beach Day has grown drastically over the past few years with the arrival of the Bruch Group in 2023, the Gustafson Group in 2024, and the Alty Group in 2025, as well as the joint appointment of the Parker Group in 2024. All together, with the Grubbs Group, we totaled 47 participants at the COG Beach Day! This showcases that it is a great time to be an organic chemist at SBU!

The Beach Day included a lunch provided by the professors, beach sports like volleyball and soccer, and lounging at the beautiful West Meadow Beach. It isn't a beach day without a visit from the ice cream truck, too. We had a blast and can't wait to continue this tradition next year!