[3][4][6] From 1881 to 1888 he served as an assistant to his brother, Professor Rolla C. Carpenter, in teaching courses at the Michigan State Agricultural College.
[4][8] Carpenter was recruited by President Charles Ingersoll and accepted the chair of the Engineering & Physics Department of the then Colorado Agricultural College.
[5] Despite difficultly to enact change, he was significant in being able to help transform the farm focused college into a university of higher learning.
[9][10] He did this traveling around Canada, the United States and Western Europe with his brother running the office until his retirement in 1922.
This led to the eventual development of the BC Ministry of Agriculture eight present watershed and demand areas.
[12][13] Carpenter left his academic papers related to water resources, education, irrigation and outside field work to Colorado State University after he retired in 1922.
These papers detail the early work in organizing and stressing the importance of water education in modern societies.
[14] A joint effort of the University Libraries and the Colorado Water Institute created a "Guide to the Papers of Louis G. Carpenter" and covers the years from 1888 to 1919.
"[15] For his promotion of education science and engineering which had an impact not only in America, but also Canada, England and France, Carpenter was given several honors.