[1][2] In 1968, Gray received a Master of Science with the Zoology Department of the University of Western Australia supervised by Barbara York Main.

His thesis was titled: Comparison of Three Genera of Trapdoor Spiders (Ctenizidae, Aganippini) with Respect to Survival under Arid Conditions.

[3][4] In 1986, Gray was awarded a PhD through Macquarie University, with the thesis A Systematic Study of the Funnel Web Spiders (Mygalomorphae: Hexathelidae: Atracinae).

[7] Of particular public interest along with Gray’s funnel-web work, was a collection of papers co-written with medical doctor Geoff Isbister relating to spider bites.

[4][8][9][10] This work debunked the myth of flesh eating necrosis being caused by a bite from an Australian White-tailed spider (Lampona spp.).

In 2004, Isbister and Gray were nominated as finalists in the Australian Skeptics Eureka Prize for Critical Thinking, for their paper on the White-tailed spider bite.