She is a lecturer in economics and public policy at Victoria University of Wellington, and has been active in environment organizations in New Zealand.

[2] Since 1987, Wallace has been a lecturer at Victoria University in Wellington in economics and public policy focussing on the environment.

Her main focus was on keeping environmental costs in mind in national decision making.

As part of her activism she led a resistance movement together with other activists against business interests that were trying to curtail the Resource Management Act.

Wallace continues to advocate for the implementation of strong local environmental policies throughout New Zealand.