First they debunked a popular doomsday prophecy—that the world would end in December 2012—when they uncovered ancient Maya murals. Then they discovered six sets of skeletal remains dating to AD 250. Who knows what they’ll find next? Every even-numbered year, Assistant Professor of Archaeology Bill Saturno takes a group of undergrads out of the classroom and into the wilds of Guatemala. “I’m not a discovery junkie,” says Saturno, though he admits to digging up his backyard as a kid. “My greatest thrill is bringing my students into the jungle and seeing them make discoveries.”

“Bringing students both into the field and into the past to help shape our present is something I get to do all the time here at BU.”