Prof Bennett is an international expert in ecology, animal physiology and animal behaviour and received the Havenga Prize for Biological Sciences for his research on living material, excluding humans, e.g. in Agriculture, Biology and Veterinary Science.

The Havenga Prize is awarded each year for original research in the natural sciences and/or the field of technology. The prerequisites in the evaluation of candidates are firstly research publications and secondly, proof of the promotion of Afrikaans.

Prof Bennett completed his PhD at the University of Cape Town and currently holds the Austin Roberts Chair of African Mammalogy and the SARChI Chair of Mammal Behavioural Ecology and Physiology in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at UP. He is a Full Professor in the Department of Zoology and Entomology.

His research is focused on ecology, animal physiology and animal behaviour. He studies the biology of African mole-rats and uses these organisms as model animals for his interdisciplinary studies. He has published one book, contributed 10 chapters in books and published 194 research articles in international peer-reviewed journals, including papers in Nature, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Advances in the Study of Behavior and Trends in Ecology and Evolution. He is a fellow of the Zoological Society of London and the Royal Society of South Africa. He has served as President and Vice-President of the Zoological Society of Southern Africa and is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Zoology, London and editor of Proceedings of the Royal Society, London (Biological Sciences) – Series B.

He received the Chancellor’s Medal for Research in 2003 and 2011 and the Zoological Society gold medal in 2008. He has an A-rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Prof Nigel Bennett was also recently a visiting Professor in the Department of Zoology at the King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.