The Head of Advice Department leads ICES science-to-policy work, overseeing the development and delivery of independent, evidence-based advice to governments, the European Commission, and international bodies. This role ensures ICES advice is credible, transparent, and timely, while driving strategic innovation to integrate ecosystem and climate considerations and maintain relevance in a changing policy landscape.
Millar is a familiar face within the ICES community, having served as a Professional Officer for the past eight years. She has led advice development for more than 50 fish stocks, supported the Fisheries Overviews and mixed fisheries advice, and played a key role in modernizing advisory outputs through tools like adviceXplorer and fisheriesXplorer.
Before joining ICES, Millar worked as a fisheries scientist at Marine Scotland, where she focused on stock assessments and modelling. She holds a PhD in the history of science, complementing her background in fisheries science with a deep understanding of how knowledge, policy, and society interact.
We asked the new Head of Advice Department a few questions as she steps into her new role.
Before joining the Secretariat in 2016, had ICES played a part in your career?
ICES has been a part of my professional world since my Master's in Marine and Fisheries Science at the University of Aberdeen in 2004. At the Marine Laboratory in Scotland, I began attending ICES expert groups in Copenhagen regularly – the Working Group on North Sea Demersal Stocks (WGNSSK), the Working Group on Northern Shelf Stocks (now WGCSE), and the Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks (WGWIDE). Whilst I primarily worked on pelagic stocks during this time, I was also engaged with inshore fisheries, working with Norway lobster and scallops before they were taken into the ICES expert group fold. It's been great to see how things have progressed in the past two decades. I am also lucky in that many of the colleagues I met during these years are still in my network now.
What made you apply for this role?
I’ve been a Professional Officer at ICES for the last eight years. I started here as maternity cover for an Assisting Secretary and have been fortunate to take opportunities for development and progression ever since. The Head of Advice role is an exciting change, but it feels like a natural step.
The part of my job I have loved over the years is engaging with teams – both within and outside the Secretariat – helping and supporting them to reach their full potential. This new role makes that the cornerstone of my daily work.
Having spent two decades working with the ICES community, being at the Secretariat has already been the fulfilment of a longstanding ambition. I deeply respect ICES’ ethos, both in its core work and its efforts to expand into emerging areas like offshore renewables, cumulative impact assessment, and ecosystem-based management. My background in managing processes within the Advice department has prepared me well for the challenges ahead.
ICES advice depends on the contributions of a large network of scientists. How will you support and engage the expert community in this work?
As a Professional Officer, a large part of my work was interacting with the ICES community on a daily basis. No one knows better than me how important the groups and the individuals are to the successful running of the ICES network. We need to continue to value their expertise—and their well-being—by ensuring that we are mindful about what we are asking of them and how we are asking it.
In my experience, when people have time, engaging the community in the work of ICES is easy. This is an incredibly skilled and knowledgeable network wanting to contribute. Of course, good, open and honest communication always helps. Inclusivity really helps engagement.
How can ICES integrate ecosystem and climate considerations more effectively into its advice?
I think this is something that we are already starting to work on, and it is as much about the way we communicate and disseminate this as integration. We have great examples of climate considerations in the Ecosystem Overviews, and the Overviews in general showcase ecosystem-based fisheries management by providing relevant, nuanced information for decision-making.
ICES is also a partner in multiple projects that are considering both climate and ecosystem-based management, for instance, MeCCAM (Measures for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in European Fisheries) and OCCAM (Operationalising Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation for aquaculture), and these are great ways to bring in forward-thinking work in the community to our advice. It will be critically important to ensure the co-creation of these new potential advice products with stakeholders to see them reach their full potential.
And finally, what are you looking forward to in your new role?
I am looking forward to working more closely with the Advice Department and getting to know a bit more about people's hopes and fears for the future, so we can work together to continue the great work of our previous Head of Advice. This is an important time of change for the Advice Department, and I am really excited to be part of that.
Sarah Millar officially took up the position of Head of Advice Department on 1 October 2025 and is based at ICES Secretariat in Copenhagen, Denmark.
