He is an Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences[3] and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and serves on the board of directors for environmental and educational organizations, including the Crystal Cove Conservancy,[4] the Irvine Ranch Conservancy,[5] Pangea World,[6] and the Center for International Experiential Learning.
His work also explored the adaptive patterns in behavior and energy allocation of ectothermic vertebrates,[14] particularly reptiles,[15][16] which have limited oxygen uptake and rely on anaerobic metabolism for intense activity.
[17] In other studies, he also evaluated the thermal dependence of locomotor capacity in ectothermic vertebrates and found that low temperature greatly constrains performance.
[19] Bennett's research has a focus on metabolism that explores various organizational levels, including enzymatic, organismal, and ecological aspects.
In this regard, he compared and contrasted the physiology of lower vertebrates (such as reptiles, amphibians, and fish) with mammals and birds during activity, particularly exploring oxygen consumption, anaerobic metabolism, and body temperature effects.
[23] Their research adopted an ecological and evolutionary framework developed to examine how organisms adapt to natural environmental variations and to analyze organismal adjustments to heat stress.
[24] Bennett outlined four general approaches to the study of evolutionary physiology and demonstrated the value of selection experiments in testing hypotheses about functional character evolution.
They studied the number and diversity of beneficial mutations by subjecting 115 Escherichia coli populations to 2000 generations of evolution at high temperature.