Prospective Students
Undergraduate volunteer opportunities: We welcome students from a range of backgrounds and with varying interests into the Environmental Archaeology Laboratory. Prof. Marston is on sabbatical for the 2024-25 academic year and away from Boston, so we are not currently accepting new volunteers. Beginning in Fall 2025, we will have openings for volunteer research opportunities in the laboratory on research projects in the identification of carbonized plant remains from sites in Israel and Greece. Please contact Prof. Marston for more information.
Undergraduate research internships: Students with at least one semester of experience volunteering in the laboratory may work with Prof. Marston to develop a directed research project in the laboratory. We have several ongoing projects ready for student participation. Such projects may be completed for course credit, for funding (via the BU UROP program), or for an honors thesis (for seniors only, via AR 401/402). As Prof. Marston will be on sabbatical and away from campus during the 2024-2025 academic year, there are no current opportunities to conduct directed laboratory research for students new to the lab. If you are interested in joining our research team for future years, however, please contact Prof. Marston directly to discuss possible projects if you are interested in one of the above opportunities.
Prospective graduate students: Prof. Marston is not recruiting doctoral students to join the laboratory group during the 2024-25 application cycle, and additionally will not accept master’s students this year. In general, master’s students should apply to the MA in Archaeology, while doctoral students will be admitted to work with Prof. Marston through the Anthropological Archaeology track within the PhD in Anthropology.
When research positions are available, we encourage students with a very good research to apply to join the lab. While students interested in any aspect of environmental archaeology or the study of past human-environmental interactions are welcome, students with an interest in agricultural systems of the ancient Near East are especially encouraged to apply. Numerous research projects currently underway in the laboratory offer opportunities for thesis and dissertation research, especially Gordion, Tel Shimron, and the Athenian Agora. Please contact Prof. Marston directly with questions about our graduate programs or to discuss your potential application.