her advisor w.p. fraser travelled to western canada in 1917 so he could begin researching stem rust from a devastating epidemic in 1916 that had destroyed 100 million bushels of wheat worth about $200 million. 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; she still had to contend with the 22:00 curfew of her residence. during her research, she discovered that stem rust spores infected wheat with different rapaciousness.