Marston was honored in 2012 with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Geographers – the most distinguished honor in her discipline.

She is the second-most cited feminist geographer in the world. She has published more than 80 peer reviewed articles and book chapters, is the editor of five scholarly books and has advised 40 graduate students. Her paper on "The Social Construction of Scale" has been cited 2,400 times and, along with a second co-authored piece, resulted in a decade-long productive debate in the discipline about one of its central concepts. According to her editor, more than 250 colleges and universities across the United States use her co-authored textbooks. "People and Places in Global Context" is the only U.S. human geography undergraduate textbook that has been translated into German and Chinese.

Marston is also noted for her commitment to the Tucson community. The Community and School Garden Program promotes community engagement for UArizona students by training them to support teaching and learning in pre-K-12 Title I school gardens. The program, which matches UArizona students with Tucson Unified School District schools, helps build and manage school gardens and support teachers to transform the lives of children. The program has become a national and international model for a transformative university-school outreach program.