Michael Catania has been extensively involved with conservation, environmental, and land use policy issues in New Jersey for the last 30 years. An attorney, he began his career with the Office of Legislative Services and drafted many of New Jersey's conservation and environmental laws, including the Pinelands Protection Act, the Conservation and Historic Preservation Restriction Act, the Natural Areas System Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers System Act, and several of the Green Acres Bond Acts.

From 1986 to 1990 he was Deputy Commissioner of the DEP. After teaching environmental law and policy for three semesters as Visiting Professor at the Eagleton Institute of Politics and Cook College, he was Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy of New Jersey for 12 years.

He currently serves as a trustee and the Chair of the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust. In 1998, he was the Co-Chair of the Coalition to Preserve Natural Resources. This organization conducted the successful statewide campaign for voter approval of Public Question #1, which dedicated $98 million per year for open space and farmland preservation for each of the next thirty years.

Michael holds a BA and an MA in Political Science, from Rutgers University, and a JD from the Rutgers School of Law in Camden.