She won a scholarship to Cambridge to study chemistry, where she earned her Ph.D., and she later conducted research on the structure of coal that led to better gas masks for the British during World War II.

她获得了前往剑桥学习化学的奖学金，并在那里获得了博士学位，后来她对煤炭的结构进行了研究，从而在二战期间为英国人制造了更好的防毒面具。