Gries recieved her Ph.D. in 1988 from Christian-Albrechts-University, Germany. Since then she has been at Arizona State University, initially doing research in the area of biogeochemistry, mainly gas-exchange, of lichens under air pollution stress. She taught several classes in general ecology and plant ecology in the Department of Plant Biology. Currently she works as the information manager for Central Arizona Pheonix - Longterm Ecological Research Site.
