Students preparing for careers in the sciences benefit from learning to communicate scientific information. Poster competitions give students the ability to practice written and oral communications skills. Over the last five years the Harold B. Lee Library has hosted a life sciences undergraduate poster competition. Here we share our experience hosting a traditional in-person competition and a virtual competition adapted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also discuss survey feedback we received from participating students. Our program illustrates how academic libraries can foster the development of scientific communication skills and promote information literacy through a student research poster competition.