Godwin Degabriele sees himself as a man of varied interests. Apart from his passion for the subject he lectures, Biology, Godwin always had an almost compulsive yearning for knowledge. Being also a bit of a hoarder since he was a young boy, Godwin has managed to amass a number of varied collections, from postage stamps to tea card albums to fossils to vintage plastic model kits of historical figures and ships, all of which feed his desire to know more about things around him. He finds that this accumulated knowledge somehow seeps into his lectures, lending an interesting and enjoyable twist to his subject matter.
Since childhood, Godwin has been an avid fan of Japanese animation series, better known as anime. His collection of vintage anime series, cels (original drawings), gashapon figurines and sticker albums from the 1970s and 80s bring nostalgia to anyone who was a child during those years.
Furthermore, Godwin regularly practices singing. Being a former soloist of the “Voices” choir, and currently a member of the vocal group “Crescendos” founded by the theatre company Masquerade, Godwin finds that involving himself in such an activity helps him to unwind after a week’s work. Godwin particularly enjoys creating complex vocal harmonies to songs and likes nothing better than trying out these harmonies with his daughter Louisa, who is also a member of the same vocal group. Godwin and Louisa also regularly animate the Sunday mass at Siġġiewi, their local parish.
Godwin is also a keen entomologist (entomology is the study of insects). He has received training in butterfly farming and management at the Stratford-upon-Avon butterfly farm and also studied the local species of dragonflies and damselflies, which he described in a book he published in 2013 entitled “An overview of the dragonflies and damselflies of the Maltese Islands”. The book describes 19 dragonfly and damselfly species found locally, including a species - the Wandering Glider - which Godwin discovered as a first record to the Maltese Islands in his field trips.
Godwin is currently reading for a Ph.D with the Institute of Earth Systems, Rural Sciences and Food Systems Division, at the University of Malta, in which he is investigating the diversity of another group of insects called thrips. This work also involves writing a key to the new species of the thrips found in the Maltese Islands. During the course of this research project, Godwin discovered 60 new species records.