 He kept up a correspondence with his early friend Sir Richard Owen, to whom he had sent the first specimens of the Nautilus to arrive in England, and with Darwin and other scientists of the time.He was much interested in the Sydney Botanic Gardens and the Acclimatization Society, and was a vice-president of the Zoological Society, and a member of the board of the Australian Museum.Bennett also contributed papers to "The Lancet", the "Medical Gazette", the "Journal of Botany", "Loudon's Magazine of Natural History", and other journals.