Michael R. Gray - Misplaced Pages

Australian arachnologist (1941- 2023)

Michael Robert Blair Gray (25 August 1941- 28 July 2023) was an arachnologist who specialised in the taxonomy of spiders at the Australian Museum in Sydney with a particular interest in the systematics of Australian funnel-web spiders (Atracidae).

DrMichael R. GrayPhD
Mike Gray at Jenolan Caves, NSW 2018
Born	(1941-08-25)25 August 1941 Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Died	28 July 2023(2023-07-28) (aged 81) Katoomba, New South Wales
Education	Wesley College, Perth
Alma mater	University of Western Australia, Macquarie University
Spouse	Greta Gray (nee Jensen)
Children	Emma Gray, Anna Gray
Scientific career
Fields	Arachnology
Institutions	Australian Museum
Thesis	A Systematic Study of the Funnel Web Spiders (Mygalomorphae: Hexathelidae Atracinae) (1986)
Doctoral advisor	Dr Dinah Hales, Dr David Briscoe, Dr Courtenay Smithers

Biography

Early life

Gray was born to Dorothy Dean Gray (nee Sweeting) and Dr William Blair Christie Gray in Kensington, Western Australia. Gray grew up in Perth, Western Australia and attended Wesley College, Perth.

Education

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.

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

Personal life

While at the Australian Museum, Gray met his wife, Greta Jensen, who was then working in the Marine Invertebrates department. They married in 1970 and had two children, Emma and Anna.

Career

In 1968 Gray started as Assistant Curator of Arachnology at the Australian Museum. By 2003, Gray had progressed to the position of Principal Research Scientist.

Gray's research interests included the systematics of Australian funnel-web spiders (Atracidae).

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.

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.

Cave spiders were another research interest, with Gray undertaking fieldwork in Jenolan Caves, Wombeyan Caves and caves on the Nullarbor Plain.

Notable surveys Gray was involved in include the World Heritage Rainforests Survey with the Queensland Museum, the Lord Howe Island Survey, and the North East Forests Biodiversity Survey with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Equally important to his research was public engagement. Throughout his career, Gray was regularly interviewed by media outlets. Through these interviews he tried to educate and build public interest in spiders. In 1997, Gray curated the Spiders! exhibition at the Australian Museum.

Scientific committees and societies Gray has been a member of include:

Jenolan Caves Scientific Advisory Committee
Australian Venoms Research Council
Joyce Vickery Scientific Research Fund grants committee (Chair)
Linnean Society of New South Wales

Gray was particularly active within the Linnean Society having been a member since 1981, then a council member in 1988 and President in 2012-2013.

Gray was an Honorary Associate in the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Agriculture Food and Natural Resources at the University of Sydney. Gray supervised many students studying for Honours, Masters, and PhD degrees. He also became a mentor to retired pharmacist Graham Wishart, developing Wishart's interest in Trapdoor spiders.

Gray retired in 2009 and in 2010, as a retired fellow of the Australian Museum, published his PhD thesis findings A revision of the Australian funnel-web spiders (Hexathelidae: Atracinae).

Gray's field work has resulted in almost 11,000 specimen lots registered in the Australian Museum database under his name. Gray introduced contemporary curatorial techniques and standards to registering arachnology specimens at the Australian Museum. In 1977, with the support of an assistant, he started databasing specimens. By 1990, 28,000 specimens had been recorded. As of 2023, over 131,000 arachnological specimens are represented in the Australian Museum database.