How to Succeed on the NRAH Poster Project: (title font size approx. = 88) Sarah Vonhof, Marisa Murdock, and Amanda Klein (authors font size = 48) Course Title and Date Presented (font size = 40) SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry,

1
How to Succeed on the NRAH Poster Project(title
font size approx. 88)Sarah Vonhof, Marisa
Murdock, and Amanda Klein (authors font size
48)Course Title and Date Presented (font size
40) SUNY College of Environmental Science and
Forestry, Syracuse, NY

• Introduction
• This poster describes the poster assignment in
  NRAH in the spring 2010 semester. It is a new
  project, and the syllabus description was just a
  rough draft. Marisa and Amanda and I have worked
  to refine and clarify the assignment. We provide
  the expectations, guidelines, grading criteria
  and resources for students to succeed.
• Here is the syllabus description 1
• You will choose a partner to work with. The two
  of you will select a US President and use the era
  of his administration as your time frame. You
  will research and describe the salient features
  of environmental history during that time period.
  You will also analyze and explain the importance
  of these features (or this era) relative to
  American history as a whole. For example, you
  might describe one or two pieces of legislation
  passed during the Nixon administration and
  explain the impact on farmland or forests.
  Further analysis might explain the political
  process involved or the social and economic
  implications of an environmental law. Another
  approach might be the description of relevant
  environmental impacts, and the reaction of a
  state or federal judiciary or legislature. The
  analysis might focus on a precedent set by a
  particular course case, or a turning point in
  environmental history due to a judicial case or
  state or federal law. One other approach would
  be to focus on a local-scale environmental issue
  or event, using a presidential administration to
  put the issue or event in national context.

• What will you produce and turn in?
• On the day you present your poster, you will have
  the following
• One (1) copy of a large format poster to display
  on the wall or board
• Three (3) learning objectives on 81/2 x 11 paper
  to display next your poster and to turn in
• Three (3) copies of a one-page handout of the
  poster printed on 81/2 x 11 paper to turn in
  (Figure 2). Select Print Preview, print Slide and
  Option- Scale to fit paper.

• Reminders for charts / images / graphs
• Include a caption if you have taken an image
  from the web
• Include a reference for any data or graphs (you
  must do this manually using font superscript for
  the numbers)
• Check the resolution of the image it may not
  print well in large format. Even some fonts get
  fuzzy at full size.
• Label figures (e.g., Figure 1 or Table 1)
  when appropriate. You do not have to label
  picture images (but you need to cite the source.)

• Presentation days, Sign-Up Process and Attendance
• Poster presentation days are Wednesday April
  21st, Friday April 23rd, and Monday, April 26th.
  
• Teams will sign up in class on our
  administration day, or on the sign-up sheets
  outside Dr. Vonhofs office. You must have a
  topic when you sign up. Contrary to the
  syllabus, you do not have to submit a proposal
  and have your topic approved.
• Information presented on the posters will be
  covered on the Final exam.
• Attendance is compulsory. Posters will be
  available for review only on the day of the
  presentation.

• What are the Grading Criteria?
• Description of topic 20
• Informative, and thorough, a clear statement of
  purpose and well- defined topic/event/issue
• Analysis 40
• Relevant, critical, scholarly, and thorough
• Presentation 20
• Organized, professional, and well-written
• Originality 10
• Creative, interesting, engaging approach and /or
  design
• Learning Objectives 10
• Clearly translate to a test question, relevant to
  the main ideas of the poster

Figure 2. Example poster hand-outs.

• Formatting Tips (subtitle font size 36)
• Below are a few basic tips for formatting.
• Internal text font size 32
• Format Autoshape allows you to set the internal
  margins for a text box
• For tighter text, format Line spacing at 1 with
  0.0 lines before and after paragraphs
• Sometimes full justification (aligning text to
  margins on both sides) works better than borders.
  It can, however, stretch sentences out so that
  there are huge spaces between words which looks
  bad. Borders are extremely difficult to line up
  exactly, and often appear to look right and print
  differently.
• Tools-AutoCorrect Options-Auto Format As You
  Type-turn off AutoFit title and body text size
• There are many helpful hints online at ITS.
  There is a Large Format Printing Information
  Resource and Guide, which is a narrated /
  animated Presentation and other tips for poster
  design, development and production
  (www.esf.edu/its/html/training_consult.htm). In
  addition, you might find it beneficial to check
  out the posters along the first floor corridor in
  Baker, and attend the Spotlight on Student
  Research2 to see more examples.

• Conclusion
• Here are some things to think about as you
  research, prepare, and perfect your poster
• Is your poster interesting and relevant (that is
  why should anyone care to read it?)
• Have you clearly and fully described the topic /
  event / issue?
• Is your analysis critical and relevant? Does it
  explain why your poster is relevant to American
  environmental history? Are the implications or
  consequences clearly linked?
• Is the design interesting? If you were at a
  conference, would people be drawn to your poster?
  Would they read it all the way through or get
  bored or confused?
• Lastly, be creative and have fun with this
  assignment! This is your opportunity to
  personalize the course and develop and hone
  valuable research, and communication skills.

Figure 1. ITS Poster Design, Development and
Production Resources.
Notes and/or References (font size 36) 1 Vonhof,
Sarah. 2010. FOR 204 Natural Resources in
American History Syllabus. Syracuse SUNY-ESF. 2
Spotlight on Student Research and Outreach.
2010. Syracuse, NY SUNY-ESF. http//www.esf.edu/
spotlight/ This font size is 28. The number is
formatted as superscript gtgtgt Be sure your
citations are in proper format! There are links
on citations from the General Directions page of
the course website, which is accessible from the
home page. gtgtgt You must have at least five (5)
scholarly sources ( books, journal articles).
Websites do not count as scholarly sources. Do
not use Wikipedia as a reference.