Carmichael has a BS, MS, and PhD in chemical engineering and has done extensive research related to air quality and its environmental impacts. He is currently the Karl Kammermeyer professor of chemical and biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa and director of the University of Iowa Informatics Initiative, a cross-campus activity focused on big data, for which 25 new faculty positions have been created and more than 200 affiliate faculty and staff are engaged. Professor Carmichael is also co-director of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research (a large interdisciplinary center with 100+ faculty). He served as associate dean for graduate studies and research for the College of Engineering from 2002 to 2014. In 2018, Carmichael was named a fellow of the American Geophysical Union.