Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Follow common sense and conference guidelines for size, contents, and colors. For example,
yellow-colored font on a white background will not work. Make sure you choose a font size
large enough so that it can be read from about three feet away. Many people decide to use
some sort of background image that they then superimpose the text over. Do this with
caution, as this may make it look too busy. Remember that “presentation is everything”
d you can have the best presentation in terms of the science, but if your poster looks messy
or unfinished, the presentation will not be perceived well by others. You also do not want to
put too much text on your poster. While the idea is for people to read it, most people would
prefer for you to explain it so that they do not have to spend 20 minutes reading your poster.
Include photos, graphs, and tables of your results when appropriate. Your poster will not
include every single aspect of your study d just the highlights.
You can print your poster out at many stores that specialize in photocopying and other
office services. Do your homework first with regard to these services. Find out how much
printing costs per square foot and if there is an extra cost for color d for example, if the entire
background is dark blue with white text, the cost may go up due to how much ink will be
used. These services can be expensive, so make sure to check with your college or university,
as there may be a lab that has a special printer available for students at a reduced rate, such as
in the geography, art, architecture, natural sciences, or engineering departments. There are
also many services advertised online that will print out your poster and mail it either to
your address or directly to the conference hotel. I personally have never used any of these
online services, but they can be convenient and may prevent mishaps such as forgetting
the poster in the overhead bin of the airplane (see below). Make sure, however, that you
vet any service you are going to use and always have Plan B ready just in case (i.e., bring
a copy of your poster on your memory drive with you in case reprinting is necessary).
Buy a cardboard or plastic tube for your poster and bring along extra tacks, as these may
not be available at the conference. Make sure that you put your name and contact information
on the tube, take it as a carry-on (to prevent the airline from losing it), and do not forget your
tube on the airplane. It sounds obvious, but it is not an uncommon occurrence. The second
editor of this volume went to France for a conference with several others and the person in
charge of all the posters forgot them on the plane. The entire group then spent several days
before the conference running around trying to figure out how to get the posters reprinted (in
a foreign country) given the software they had used to create them. This obviously also cost
a small fortune.
Papers
Presenting your work as a paper is an excellent way to reach a large number of people at
once, including people who may not necessarily have a particular interest in your area of
research. It is important that all of us try to avoid the “tunnel vision” that can be so easy
to fall into, where you only focus on your own very specific area of interest (for example,
the biomechanics of the foot) and essentially ignore what else is happening in the field. Paper
presentations are a great way to combat tunnel vision, as many people will sit through an
entire session of papers at one time. In addition, it is important for all of as general skeletal
biologists to be aware of what is happening in other subdisciplines in our field. A new
method being applied in one area might apply to your own work. Moreover, if you are going
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