Career
He studies animal sensory systems, brain organization, and behavior in diverse species including star-nosed moles, water shrews, naked mole-rats, alligators and crocodiles, and snakes at Catania laboratory He studies specialized animals because “they reveal general principles of brain function.” Catania has written many publications in scientific journals and has written for Scientific American, Natural History Magazine, and The Scientist. He did his post-doctoral work with Jon Kaas at Vanderbilt University before joining the Vanderbilt Biological Sciences Faculty in 2000 where he is currently a Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences.
In 1989, Catania received a Bachelor of Science in zoology from the University of Maryland.
In 1992, he received an Mississippi in Neurosciences from the University of California, San Diego, followed in 1994 with a Doctor of Philosophy from University of California, San Diego working with Glenn Northcutt.