Aside from hosting precious ecologies, this land forms the headwaters of the Murray River, feeding - literally - into the nation's food bowl. Without healthy river systems, Australia's ability to feed itself and much of the world is under threat.

One of the first non-indigenous people to appreciate the importance of the alpine environment was botanist Stella Grace Maisie (nee Fawcett, 1912-1988).

After suffering a severe head injury in 1940 that prevented her using a microscope, she shifted her focus to field work. Initially she moved to Omeo, where she used fenced areas to exclude rabbits and stock to monitor changes in vegetation and their affect on erosion.

Here she became something of a local identity, with the people calling her "Washaway Woman" and "Erosion Girl". A newspaper remarked on her "strong independence" and "healthy weatherbeaten appearance".

Maisie ranged across a wide area, both geographically and in her research. She investigated erosion in the Hume Reservoir catchment for the Soil Conservation Board of Victoria.

She studied gully erosion along with the effects of introduced grasses and fertilisers on pastures.

Her opportunity arrived at time when some considered men to be better suited to this kind of work, but many were absent during World War II.

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In remote areas and freezing highland winters, conditions could be difficult. She covered long distances on horseback, to sites such as Rocky Valley to study a range of vegetation-moss bed, snow grass, heath, scrub and woodlands.

Maisie established four now-famous plots on the Bogong High Plains and, in September 2022, "Maisie's Plots" were recognised by the Heritage Council of Victoria. Three sites were added to the Victorian Heritage Register and are still in use today.

Later she became a lecturer on plant taxonomy and ecology. She documented the botanical changes of Victoria's high country, providing the first published scientific evidence of the destructive effects of grazing on vegetation and soils.

Stella Maisie died in 1988 in Canberra, and is buried at the Gungahlin cemetery.

She is remembered for ecological ideas that were ahead of their time. Her research included some of Australia's oldest vegetation records and is still valued today.

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