He assigned Newton to study the samples he collected, who accepted only after the school's dean eliminated restrictions on women using laboratory facilities at night;[7] she still had to contend with the 22:00 curfew of her residence.

degree,[9] for which her thesis The Resistance of Wheat Varieties to Puccinia graminis[4] covered "different spore forms within the stem rust fungus".

[7] She was appointed the laboratory's senior plant pathologist, a position she maintained until retirement,[9] and brought with her former student Thorvaldur Johnson as her research assistant.

[15] The research attracted global attention, particularly from scientists in grain-growing nations dealing with productivity losses from stem rust.

[16] She was by this time internationally regarded as an authority on plant rusts,[11] and represented Canada at scientific conventions in the United States, Europe, and Russia.

[13] She was there for three months, during which she enjoyed a privileged status similar to a Russian official,[13] and was shown every phase of plant research conducted at the Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

[3] Vavilov had attempted to lure her to work in Leningrad in 1930 by offering a generous salary, technical support, and a camel caravan for travel.

[2] Her continued exposure to stem rust spores exacerbated a respiratory ailment, which would lead to an early retirement in 1945[5] and a move to Victoria.

[7] Farmers petitioned on her behalf for the Government of Canada to grant her a full pension, as she had "saved the country millions of dollars".

[3] In retirement, she continued to share her expertise, travelling to Russia and Africa to assist in rust mitigation programs,[7] and attending conventions and conferences.

[13] In 1964, the University of Victoria completed construction of the first phase of a residence complex for female students; one of the four-storey buildings was named Margaret Newton Hall in her honour.

On 17 July 2008, she was inducted into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame, and a plaque in her honour was erected in Portage la Prairie[19] and officially revealed in a ceremony attended by her relatives and "representatives from grain research centres".

[7] Newton's research is depicted in the poster gallery created by Ingenium Canada's The Women in STEM initiative.

[22] Newton is recognized as a Women of Impact in Canada for her scientific contributions as a woman in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).