Dr Sarah Milliken BA Hons, PGDipLA, MSc, DPhil (Oxon)

Research Fellow

Sarah originally trained as an archaeologist, and has taught at various universities in the UK, Ireland, and Italy. A keen interest in environmental issues and a desire to actively address them led her to undertake postgraduate qualifications in landscape architecture and urban sustainability. Since joining the University of Greenwich in 2012 she has managed a number of EU-funded projects, including Arid Lands Restoration and Combat of Desertification: Setting up a Drylands and Desert Restoration Hub (COST Action ES1104, 2012-2016), EU Aquaponics Hub – Realising Sustainable Integrated Fish and Vegetable Production for the EU (COST Action FA1305, 2014-2018), and Aqu@teach: Innovative Educational Tools to Promote Learning among European Students using Aquaponics (Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership in Higher Education, 2017-2020|).  She is currently engaged in an advisory capacity in the Interreg Europe Blue Green City project (2019-2023) which focuses on improving policies that promote green and blue infrastructure as an integral part of local or regional natural heritage preservation strategies.

Landscape architecture

Art and design - history, practice and theory

Responsibilities within the university

Researcher at the University of Greenwich

Member of Integrated Nature and Technology Research Group (INTENT)

Awards

Joint winner (with Benz Kotzen) of the Sustainable Future Award at the Greenwich Research and Enterprise (GRE) Awards 2020/21.

Highly Commended in the 'Best Practice Knowledge Sharing Award' at the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management Awards 2017 for 'Ecosystem Assessment and NCA profiling in Kachchh District', University of Greenwich/Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology.

Recognition

Academic Member of the Landscape Institute (AMLI)

Aquaponics Association STEM Committee Member

Peer reviewer for Qatar National Research Fund

Journal editorial board membership of JSM Environmental Science & Ecology

Journal review board membership:

  • AgriEngineering
  • Anthropocene
  • Cities & Health
  • Climate
  • Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology
  • Ecological Indicators
  • Environment and Ecology Research
  • Environments
  • Expert Opinion on Environmental Biology
  • Frontiers in Plant Science
  • ICONARP International Journal of Architecture and Planning
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
  • ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
  • Journal of Urban Technology
  • Land
  • Land Use Policy
  • Resources, Environment and Sustainability
  • Science of the Total Environment
  • Sustainability
  • Technological Forecasting & Social Change
  • Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
  • Urban Science
  • Water

Research / Scholarly interests

Sarah's research interests cover a broad range of areas of practice, including landscape management, landscape planning, landscape science, and landscape design. Recent and current projects include:

  • the application of landscape character and ecosystem services assessment in developing countries as a method for identifying strategic objectives which balance the priorities of ensuring the livelihoods of local stakeholders and conserving important habitats.
  • how the economic and non-monetary evaluation of ecosystem services can be integrated into the discourse and praxis of urban planning and design.
  • the social and educational value of urban agriculture, with a focus on aquaponics.
  • the effect of living walls on indoor air quality, in particular the removal of volatile organic compounds.
  • the evolution of the theory and practice of biophilic design.
  • the place of temporary urbanism in the theory and practice of landscape architecture.

Recent publications