An informative title, formatted in “sentence case”, that attracts viewers and states

or hints at “issue”, experimental approach, and study organization

Your name(s) here — Department of Biology, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado

Fig. 5. Be sure to separate this

Introduction Results figure from other figures by Conclusions
This is a Microsoft Powerpoint template that has column widths and font Paragraphs of sentences are fine, but sometimes a simple list of “bullet” generous use of white space. You can, of course, start your conclusions in column three if your results
sizes optimized for printing a 36 x 56” poster. In addition to its template points can communicate results more effectively: When figures are too cramped, section is “data light”.
use, this file has gratuitous advice on how to produce a good-looking viewers get confused about which Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah.
poster that people might actually enjoy reading. More complete advice • 9 out of 12 brainectomized rats survived the treatment. figures to read first, and which Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah,
can be found on the site, “Advice for constructing scientific posters”, • Control rats completed maze faster, on average, than rats legend goes with which figure. Note blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah,
located at without intact brains (Fig. 3) (t = 9.84, df = 21, p = 0.032). that you should turn text blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah.
www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/posteradvice.htm justification off when you are filling Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah.
smaller text boxes such as this. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah,
Note that figures are preferred but that tables are sometimes
unavoidable (ANOVA results, for example, shown at right). A table blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah,
looks best when it is first composed within Microsoft Word, then blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah.
“Inserted” as an “Object”. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah,
Fig. 1. Use a photograph or drawing
Also note that the layout for results section can (and probably should) blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah.
here if it can quickly introduce a viewer
to your question, organism, or the gene be modified from this template, depending on how much text, charts, and Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah.
du jour. Use a non-serif font for figure photographs your specific experiment involved. Don’t be tempted to Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah,
legends to provide cue to reader that reduce font size in figure legends, axes labels, etc.—your viewers are blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah,
he/she is not reading normal text probably most interested in reading your figures! blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah.
section. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah,
Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah.

Materials and methods

Do not indent the first paragraph in a section.
This paragraph has “justified” margins, but be aware that left-
justification is infinitely better if your font (at a particular size) doesn’t
“space” nicely when justified. Sometimes spacing difficulties can be fixed
(a) (b) (c) Literature cited
Bender, D.J., E.M Bayne, and R.M. Brigham. 1996. Lunar condition
by manually inserting hyphens into longer words (Powerpoint doesn’t do
influences coyote (Canis latrans) howling. American Midland
this automatically).
Naturalist 136:413-417.
Your main text is easier to read if you use a “serif” font such as
Northcutt, W. 2000. The Darwin Awards. Dutton, New York.
Palatino or Times. Use a non-serif font for title and section headings. Be
brief, and opt for photographs or drawings whenever possible to illustrate Brooks, L.D. 1988. The evolution of recombination rates. Pages 87-105 in
Fig. 4(a-c). Make sure legends have enough detail to fully The Evolution of Sex, edited by R.E. Michod and B.R. Levin. Sinauer,
organism, protocol, or experimental design. explain to the viewer what the results are. Note that for posters Sunderland, MA.
Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. it is good to put some “Materials and methods” information
Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2003. “Body mass index
within the figure legends—it allows the M&m section to be
calculator.” http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/
shorter, and gives viewer a sense of experiment(s) even if they
Fig. 6. The use of connector lines dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm (April 14, 2003).
have skipped directly to figures.
can sometimes lead the viewer
through your results better than text
alone. Don’t overuse this option,
however, or viewer will get dizzy.
Fig. 2. Photograph or drawing of
organism, chemical structure, or
Often you will have some more text-based results between your Acknowledgments
figures. This text should also guide the reader through the figures. We thank I. Güor for laboratory assistance, Herb Isside for greenhouse
whatever focus of study is. Blah, blah, blah (Figs. 4a,b). Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, care, and M.I. Menter for statistical advice. Seeds were kindly donated by
blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, Burpee corporation. Funding for this project was provided by the
blah. Swarthmore College Department of Biology and a Merck summer
Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, stipend. [Note that people’s titles are omitted.]
Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah (Fig.
4c). Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah,
Fig. 3. Illustration of important Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah (data not shown). blah. Blah, blah, blah.
piece of equipment, or perhaps a Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah,
flow chart summarizing Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, Blah, blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah,
experimental design. Use a non- blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah.
blah. Blah, blah, blah.
For further information
serif font for all text, labels within Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Blah (God, personal communication). Please contact [email protected]. More information on this and
figures. related projects can be obtained at www.swarthmore… (give URL for
general laboratory web site). A link to an online, PDF-version of poster is
nice, too.