He studies the sensory systems, neurobiology, and behavior of specialized small mammals including water shrews, star-nosed moles, and naked mole-rats. His studies take him from his lab at Vanderbilt to the wetlands of Northern Pennsylvania. Catania is a 2001 Searle Scholar and a 2006 MacArthur Fellow. See also Catanias previous article for Natural History on the star-nosed mole, A Star Is Born, and Vanderbuilt Universitys online magazine Explorations.