Prof. Benezeth Mutayoba is 2014 Winner of National Geographic/Buffet Award for Leadership in African Elephant Conservation, (The use of DNA tools in Wildlife Forensics).
For more than a decade and a half, Prof.Benezeth Mutayoba, has engaged in challenging conservation research, especially on elephants and the bushmeat trade, and has mentored students to take action to protect their unique natural heritage.
Among his many conservation accomplishments was to develop, with colleagues, mitochondrial DNA testing methods to identify bushmeat sold illegally as domestic beef and pork to hotels in Tanzania and other East African countries. His technique is now used by scientists in other parts of Africa.