She was an internationally recognized aquatic ecosystems researcher and advocate for maintaining environmental flows in rivers that were being considered for development.
She formed a consulting firm, Water Matters, focused on the science of integrated flow management in 2000.
In 2012 she was appointed Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape's Institute for Water Studies, continuing to work as a consulting expert in China, Laos, Cambodia, Pakistan, Vietnam, South America and throughout southern Africa, where she provided formative advice to the region's growing family of transboundary river basin organizations.
[6] In 2016 King received the Gold Medal of the Southern African Society of Aquatic Scientists and was the 2016 recipient of WWF-SA’s Living Planet Award.
King was, in her semi-retirement, an active community volunteer, becoming a SANParks Honorary Ranger, patrolling the trails that she also visited regularly while walking with her dogs.