He did post-doctoral work at Harvard, holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science from the University of Canterbury and is the recipient of a University of Texas Systems" Regents" Outstanding Teaching Award, the largest monetary teaching award in the United States.
The pseudonym Professor Dumpster is based upon his role as part of "", an educational experiment that transformed a trash dumpster into a fully sustainable home. Wilson lived in the dumpster over the course of the yearlong project, from 4 February 2014 to 4 February 2015. Wilson was formerly dean of the University College and an associate professor at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas.
Wilson has authored numerous publications in the environmental science field and has received funding from the National Science Foundation.
Wilson is the Executive Director of the 501(c)3 non-profit "", a Science Technology Engineering And Mathematics educational experiment in which he moved into an empty dumpster and transformed it into a 33 square feet (31 m2) environmentally sustainable home. The project has been featured in a variety of local and national news sources.
The project has received its share of criticism, as commenters have likened the endeavor to "poverty tourism" and noted the self-promotional nature of Wilson"s publicity. On August 4, 2014, after six months of Phase I (Dumpster Camping), the educational project moved into the second phase, the "Ultimate Studio Apartment".
In this Phase, the dumpster will receive standard appliances found in most homes (eg window unit A/C, lighting, toilet, and shower) in order to develop a "baseline" of energy and water use before moving into the third phase, Über Dumpster".
As part of the educational mission of, a weather station was brought online, tracking interior and exterior weather conditions, including temperature, relative humidity, solar irradiance and 11 other variables. The purpose of the weather station is to allow elementary students to test the properties of various insulation materials. Though Wilson moved out of the dumpster in February 2015, it will remain based at the college campus where Wilson works and become a rotating space for teachers and educators as part of the "Dumpster Project "Home" School Residency Program.
Wilson is currently Chief Executive Officer at is an Austin-based company focused on building 225 square foot (209 m²) tiny, affordable, urban apartments that stack, are modular, and transportable.
Together with freelance writer Clara Bensen he performed the "travel experiment" Number Baggage, in which they traveled for 21 days through eight countries with no change of clothes shortly after meeting on a dating website. New Lincolnshire Cinema has acquired the right to produce a feature film and hired Adam Brooks of Bridget Jones to screen write the film based on a book from Perseus Books entitled "Number Baggage" by Bensen.
Subsequent to moving out of the dumpster, Wilson, launched a project entitled "99 Nights ATX" in which he will spend 99 nights in 99 different homes across Austin, gaining an up-close and intimate understanding of how Austinites relate to their inner spaces. The project is in collaboration with writer Clara Bensen.
