 Between 1923 and 1936 she provided illustrations for her friend Edith Rebecca Saunders' series of papers on floral anatomy, and both the paper and illustrations were highly respected.Pertz did much of her work unpaid out of passion for science, and she never had a formal appointment at Newnham or the university.She also performed charity work, including working as a masseuse at a convalescent hospital in Cambridge during the First World War.