Ponder retired from this post after a long career of more than forty years of research on molluscs, and is now an Honorary Fellow of the museum.
[6] This was the last major publication on the taxonomy of the Gastropoda that was based on the morphology of snails and slugs (their internal and external shapes and forms), and did not take into account any analysis of their DNA or RNA.
In 2008, again with David Lindberg, he edited the book "Phylogeny and Evolution of the Mollusca"[7] in which 36 experts provided an up-to-date review on the evolutionary history of the Mollusca, based on reinvestigation of morphological characters, molecular data and the fossil record.
[8] In 2009 he was awarded the Clarke Medal in recognition of his Zoological work by the Royal Society of New South Wales.
[9] Ponder was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours for "significant service to scientific research, particularly invertebrate and conservation biology".