Dr. Carrell received a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2011.  She is currently an Associate Professor of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences at the University of Iowa.

Through a variety of publications, Dr. Carrel’s research has explored how the complex interactions between people and environments result both in disease outcomes and the progressive evolution of human pathogens.  She has applied landscape genetics methods to the study of H5N1 influenza in Vietnam, H1N1 in China, malaria drug resistance in the Congo, and HIV drug resistance in North Carolina.  Projects based in Iowa have examined the patterns of drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus, particularly in relationship to livestock production. 

In 2019 Dr. Carrel was the recipient of a prestigious Andrew Carnegie Fellowship for her project, “Understanding Infectious Disease Risk in the Wake of Hurricanes and Floods in the U.S.”  The project looks at the locations of industrial livestock production to see if potential exposure to flooded hog, cattle, or poultry facilities increases cases of infections, particularly those that are drug resistant.  This research is related to her teaching interests in spatial epidemiology and the human and environmental health implications of food.

At U Iowa has taught courses on the global geographies of food, GIS (geographic information system) applications, and the geography of health.