Angela Arthington did her Ph D in entomology and started her freshwater career in the 1970s researching invertebrate diversity in Queensland’s dune lakes and urban streams but soon progressed into work on alien fishes by invitation from ANPWS. Collaborative research on native fishes and their habitat and environmental flow requirements soon followed, producing a raft of publications on river and regional assessment methods (e.g., ELOHA) and later her book “Environmental Flows: Saving Rivers in the Third Millennium” (2012). Angela received the “Making a Difference Award” (US Instream Flow Council) for protection of fragile river and floodplain ecosystems and threatened species. Her commitment to the conservation of aquatic biodiversity has helped to bring the freshwater biodiversity crisis into scientific and policy prominence (e.g., the freshwater Emergency Recovery Plan and its implementation). Life in retirement is enlivened by editorial roles with Frontiers in Environmental Science.