She soon accepted a job opportunity for a new program and joined the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii where she worked as an assistant and associate astronomer from 1971-1976. While in Hawaii, Wolff spent 17 years contributing to the conversion of Mauna Kea into one of the world's top sites for astronomy. At an elevation of , Mauna Kea is one of the clearest image sites due to its height and dryness. This changed ground-based astronomy and gained the attention of other astronomical organizations, eventually leading to the installation of the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. Wolff also contributed to the construction of the SOAR 4.1-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory near La Serena, Chile.