[2] She graduated from Bedford College, London with an intermediate Bachelor of Science degree with honours in botany, geography, physics and zoology in 1944 before earning a post-graduate education diploma from the University of London the following year and got Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Science degrees on fungi research at Wray Castle supervised by Cecil Terence Ingold from Queen Mary College's Department of Botany in 1948 and 1955 respectively.
Canter noticed a saprophytic chytrid she was unable to identify and contacted Ingold to send him a sample that he described as Chytriomyces elegans.
[1][3] She was employed part-time in an honorary position from 1956 to 1962 so she could look after her family, financed by a grant from the Royal Society allowing her to continue studying at home.
[1] In 1965, Canter received an fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society,[1] and an individual special merit proclamation from the Department of the Civil Service eleven years later.
[2] In 1990, Canter was appointed an honorary research fellow of the FBA,[1] and was awarded the Benefactor's Medal from the British Mycological Society (BMS) a year later.