Aston completed her Bachelor of Science in 1957 with majors in botany and zoology from the University of Melbourne.
[3] Aston worked at the National Herbarium of Victoria from 1956 to 1991, where she became one of Australia's leading authorities on freshwater vascular plants.
[4] The National Herbarium of Victoria holds the majority of Aston's herbarium, almost 3,000 specimens, with duplicates distributed around Australian Herbaria including AD, BRI, CANB, HO, NE, NSW and PERTH.
Aston is probably best known for her book Aquatic Plants of Australia published in 1973 by Melbourne University Press.
[5] and In 1979, Aston was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria.