Sarah Mills

Professor Sarah Mills is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Professor of Human Geography. Her central research themes are childhood, youth, education, citizenship and volunteering. Her expertise includes the geographies of youth organisations, character education, youth volunteering, gaming/gambling and children’s digital culture.

Sarah has published research on 'gamification', where elements of video game design are used in non-gaming contexts. Her 2025 paper, The gamification of citizenship, outlines how popular mobile apps are now making ‘good citizenship’ a game to play, with real prizes to be won for reducing household energy use, tackle the energy crisis or volunteering.

Her work has been funded by the ESRC, AHRC, The British Academy and Royal Geographical Society. She serves as an advisor to a number of UK Government and Parliamentary groups and has provided interviews and expert opinion for national and international press including BBC News Online, The Guardian, BBC Radio 4 and The Economist