Darmstadter has served on numerous National Research Council bodies and has contributed to their studies. He also was part of a team that evaluated the performance of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Institute for Global Environmental Change. His career has included serving as an adjunct faculty member at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, an editorial committee member of the Annual Review of Energy, and a contributing editor of Environment magazine.
 
Darmstadter has appeared as an expert before congressional committees, presented papers at numerous international conferences, and given a series of lectures in Argentina under the auspices of the U.S. Information Agency.