As an undergraduate, Wilson spent the summer of 1969–1970 in the Snares Islands, working as an assistant to the Australian ornithologist and photographer John Warham.

She was struck by the huge numbers of sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus), penguins, petrels, and prions, and seabirds later became her research focus.

[8] Wilson started teaching at Lincoln University in the entomology department as a lecturer in 1986 under her male birth name.

[12][13] Her work with the Trust led to the construction in 2014 of a three-kilometre (1.9 mi) fence along State Highway 6, which prevented blue penguins from being killed on the road.

[17][18][19] In the 2019 New Year Honours, Wilson was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to seabird conservation.