She was awarded Young Australian of the Year in 2000 and a Dorothy Hill Medal for Science in 2011.
She was a career consultant for the Shellharbour Council in New South Wales, before becoming a lecturer in Marine Biology at Flinders University in South Australia, from 2006 to 2010, and then working at Southern Cross University.
She is also a Councillor, within the Malacological Society of Australasia as well as an Associate Editor Scientific Reports and Marine Drugs.
[4] In 2011 she was awarded the Dorothy Hill Medal for her research on marine science, molluscs and their medicinal properties.
[citation needed] Select examples of Benkendorff's publications are as follows: Benkendorff has published in The Sydney Morning Herald,[10][11] and The Conversation, on her research into the cancer fighting properties of molluscs.