Abstract
Visual media is an important tool in the communication of science and can be very useful in explaining scientific concepts as well as generating public interest in science. The purpose of this project was to highlight student research on elasmobranchs in a way that makes this research more accessible and engaging to the public as well as to help support educational materials in the classroom. For each featured student, projects were highlighted using photos of students in the field and the lab and through the creation of an infographic. Each infographic was designed to help explain key concepts relevant to each research project that may be confusing to understand without visualization. Methods for collecting information remained consistent across the project, but methods for creating and displaying science communication content differed depending on the specifics of each research project. The main differences between how this media ended up being displayed was based on a detailed discussion with each student about the purpose and goals of their project. Since each project is focused on various elasmobranch species and various research topics, each design was individualized to the project at hand. This project has helped the Shark Research and Conservation Program to reimagine strategies for how to display and share student research for community engagement. Displaying and clarifying this information has the ability to help generate funding for future projects, but during the progression of this project, it has also been intended to help to develop public interest and education on research topics currently being studied in the Shark Conservation and Research Lab at University of Miami Rosenstiel.