How Would You Explain "One's Work Protecting...." Grammatically?

Question

I do not feel comfortable with such constructs that contain "one's work ...ing" as the following:

"University of British Columbia marine biologist Amanda Vincent has won the prestigious Indianapolis Prize for her work protecting seahorses."
"Learn more about her work protecting the rights of women and girls."

No matter how I feel about it, there is no denying that it is done and it is fairly commonplace, so I am not going to say it is wrong. However, it does not sit well with me. How would you explain this phrase grammatically?

Is "protecting" a present participle? If so, construct wise, "her work" will have to be the subject of "protecting," but meaning wise, it is clearly wrong; the assumed subject is she.

The only explanation I can come up with is that this is an idiomatic expression. Maybe "protecting ..." is a gerund and it is an appositive to the immediately preceding "her work"?

Your input will be much appreciated!

@JanusBahsJacquet Thanks for the comment. That is indeed the other thing I thought about (but failed to included in my OP).
Yes, I see the question should have been better there. My apologies. — Yasuro, Jul 16 '23 at 17:10
@Draconis I know such phrasing is done, but I do feel weird about it also. — Yasuro, Jul 16 '23 at 17:12
@Draconis That ‘feels’ like a different construction to me, a simple reduced relative clause (‘his job, which is making widgets’). — Janus Bahs Jacquet, Jul 16 '23 at 18:37
See this similar question asked yesterday on ELL (but now closed): https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/338835/making-the-office-more-efficient — MarcInManhattan, Jul 16 '23 at 21:57
Does this answer your question? In "experience teaching this material over a number of years convinced me that", is "experience" a noun adjunct? — Edwin Ashworth, Jul 17 '23 at 10:41

How Would You Explain "One's Work Protecting...." Grammatically?

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