Remember, your scientific poster is a presentation of data and results with a short written discussion of your research at a scientific meeting.  Using clear, consise writing, self-explainatory tables and graphics as well as good design techniques, a person should be able to fully read your poster in less than 10 minutes. It should be readable from 2meters away and a good rule of thumb is to include 35% blank space.

Don’t be afraid to edit and simplify. 

Poster 1 is a traditional poster with substantial blocks of text. Although this version has only 740 words of core text (1436 including legends, titles, literature cited, etc.), it still is so dense that most passersby will not take the time to read it.

Poster 2 is much abbreviated from the traditional version with only 337 words of core text (1023 inclusive), but the central ideas are still conveyed. This format is much more inviting for a passerby, allowing a reader to understand the significant conservation implications of the project in less than 5 minutes.

Poster 3 is shorter still with a reduced introduction, methods presented as a flow chart, and results presented only in figures. This version would probably be optimal for a poster session during which the presenter is always available to talk people through the poster. Nevertheless, even with only 209 words of core text (727 words total text) the poster can still be understood as a stand alone.