Gioia, Paul   (1959 - 2019)

Born 1959; died in Perth 17th August 2019, aged 60.

Paul worked in the Science Division of CALM, DEC, DBCA for some 35 years and made a very significant contribution to WA's biodiversity knowledge and data management, exemplified by the State's biodiversity Census system (1990) and NatureMap (c. 2000).

Many would also remember Paul for his great passion for music, blues piano especially, for which he had an ecstatic gift . He formed or played in a number of bands that performed across Australia, and he scored and recorded a number of albums, to wide acclaim.

In 2019 Paul died after a long battle with lymphoma. He played and raised the roof off at gigs right up until the end, and now his music lives fiercely on through his recordings.

Source: Extracted from obituary by Alex Chapman, Perth:
Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 180 (September 2019) p.18
Portrait Photo: Extracted from above.