One Slippery Rock University student threw out the red paint and turned to tech to mark a lot of spots on a map.

Nico Russo, a senior geology major from Sarver, is spending his summer working with Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History by plotting locations in the Greater Pittsburgh area where the museum's fossils were found.

Russo said the map would give visitors a visual aid for seeing where and how ancient plants and animals lived.

“They're all Pennsylvanian in age, so that means they're from 285 to 385 million years old,” Russo said, referring to the geologic time period.

Russo said he has spent about 20 hours into the project and is nearly half done.

“We don't really have a set schedule,” Russo said. “It's just whenever I can find the time to fit it in. I've been going down once every two weeks.”

The project involves analyzing Excel spreadsheets with the 272 fossils and their descriptions and transferring the information with geographic coordinates into a geographic information system mapping technology, or GIS for short.

Russo said working with the technology is good practice.

“It's helping me to use GIS to solve geologic problems which is kind of where the industry is heading,” Russo said.

Russo said when he finishes the project people will be able to view his work on an interactive map at the museum.

“It excites me that something that I make will be on display for others to view,” “Hopefully they'll be able to understand and enjoy geology more.”

Russo has been working alongside Albert Kollar, the museum's collection manager of invertebrate paleontology, and Tamra Schiappa, a SRU professor of geology, who also teaches Russo in the classroom and acts as his adviser on the project.

“He's been one of those eager-to-learn and motivated students who is looking to gain as much experience as possible with a variety of opportunity,” Schiappa said.

Schiappa helped Russo apply for the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience grant which pays for the research and the student's time. She said the grant has provided many opportunities for SRU students.

“Once they start classes they get busy, and it's hard to focus on one particular project,” Schiappa said. “(The grant) allows the student to have a really well-defined research project and have it done by the end of the summer.”

Russo said the grant also gave him a new experience that would benefit him later in a geology career.

“Grant writing is an integral part of doing geological work, so getting grant-writing experience is essential for my future career,” he said.

Schiappa said once finished, Russo's project will be given to the museum which will decide whether to use the map.

“We're making this for them, and hopefully they will use it in one of their exhibits,” she said.

Schiappa said the map could be a valuable tool.

“We're creating something for the public,” she said. “The public can look at this map and use it to see where different fossil locations are present around Pittsburgh. From there, we can take that data and educate the public about what it was like around Pittsburgh 300 million years ago.”

Schiappa said she hopes the map could also serve as a prototype for future projects that could involve more of Western Pennsylvania, including Butler County.

“I think it would be great to expand it into Western Pennsylvania,” Schiappa said. “It is also our hope to have the geology overlaid as well.”

Russo said he plans to move in a different direction after he graduates. He said he wants to get into the oil and gas field.

“What interests me there is having the ability to find the natural resources that will help assist power as we search for clean and renewable resources,” he said. “The coal, oil and gas industry are kind of like the backbone of the nation's energy.”

Despite his shift from fossils to fuels, Russo said the work he's doing with the museum will contribute to his preparation for the next phase.

“It's taking all this old geologic sense and putting it in a 21st century kind of sense,” Russo said.