Rachel A. Mills

Professor Rachel A. Mills is the Senior Vice President (Academic) at King’s College London, leading academic strategy and interdisciplinary initiatives. She holds a Professorship in Ocean Chemistry and previously served in leadership roles at the University of Southampton, including Executive Dean and Head of the School of Ocean and Earth Science. Her research focuses on deep-sea oceanography, mineral deposit formation, and global biogeochemical processes. She is a Visiting Professor at the University of Southampton and a past President of the Challenger Society for Marine Science.

Education: PhD and postdoctoral work in Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

Research Interests: Chemistry of the seafloor, hydrothermal vents, carbon flux reconstruction, and innovative geochemical approaches to ocean systems. She has conducted expeditions to remote ocean regions like the Bransfield Strait and Cayman Trough.

Awards: CBE, Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship, Royal Society of Biology Fellowship, and Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. She designed the popular online course 'Exploring our Ocean' (60k+ learners).

Grants/Advising: Spearheaded King’s Climate & Sustainability initiatives and chairs Cefas Science Advisory Committee. Notable for influencing UK deep-sea moratorium policies through parliamentary testimony.