He serves as a research associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research in the Economics of Education group; a research fellow for the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); and a research affiliate for the Center for Poverty Research at UC Davis. Professor Carrell previously was a faculty research fellow for the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2008–13. At UC Davis, he serves on the Executive Committee at the Center for Poverty Research, and is the faculty athletics representative. He is the associate editor of several academic journals, including the Journal of Human Resources, Economics Letters and Economic Inquiry. In addition, Professor Carrell spent 10 years as an active duty officer in the U.S. Air Force, and remains a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve.