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Abstract Engaging youth in early and sustained conservation education has important implications for promoting positive attitudes and behaviors in those who will become the future of conservation and management. Toward this goal, visual narratives (comic books, graphic novels) are an increasingly popular method used by conservation scientists to educate young people due to their approachable use of art and narrative storytelling. However, no studies have directly assessed how visual narratives compare with more traditional forms of conservation education for youth. We asked, how does education about biodiversity through visual narrative affect student perceptions and knowledge of science content relative to a traditional resource, and is there a novelty effect when using visual narrative versus traditional resources? To assess our questions, we utilized a semistructured approach to develop a biodiversity education program. Specifically, we developed an original graphic novel (visual narrative treatment) and a slideshow presentation (traditional treatment) with the same content to educate children about wetland biodiversity. We recruited, trained, and randomized 26 third‐grade teachers to deliver either the visual narrative or traditional resource in their classrooms. Students completed pretest, posttest, and follow‐up surveys assessing their perceptions of science and knowledge of the lesson content. Students in the visual narrative treatment held more positive perceptions of science (by 3.79%,p = 0.001), whereas students in the traditional treatment performed better on content quizzes (by 7.97%,p = 0.002). We found evidence for a novelty bias when using the visual narrative but not the traditional resource. These findings point to the importance of understanding the target audience and clearly defining educational goals. Overall, our results contribute to broader understanding of the relative benefits and limitations of conservation education through nontraditional means and of practices for successfully delivering effective, accessible, and rewarding conservation education to educators and youth. 

Art is a common approach for communicating and educating about science, yet it remains unclear the extent to which science art can benefit varied audiences in varied contexts. To examine this gap, we developed an art exhibit based on the findings of two publications in disease ecology. In study 1, we asked visitors with varying formal science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education backgrounds to complete a survey about their interest in science research before and after viewing the exhibit. In study 2, we recruited upper-level ecology undergraduate students to receive one of three treatments: engage with the art exhibit, read the abstracts of the papers, or do neither. Students completed a comprehension quiz immediately after their learning treatment and again 2 weeks later to evaluate retention. Following the exhibit, visitors who did not report a career or major in STEM showed a greater increase in research interest than visitors who did report a career or major in STEM. For the ecology undergraduate students, comprehension quiz scores were higher for students in the abstract group than the art exhibit group, while both groups scored higher than the control group. Retention of information did not significantly differ between the three groups. Overall, these findings suggest that science art exhibits are an effective method for increasing the accessibility of science to broader audiences and that audience identifiers (e.g., level of formal education in STEM) play an important role in audience experience of science communication and science education initiatives.