Following her PhD she was awarded a Sir James Knottpostdoctoral fellowship at Newcastle University in 1999, and was employed as a lecturer at the same institution in 2001. She moved to the University of York in 2004 and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2009, and made Professor of Archaeology in 2012.[6] She has been head of York's Department of Archaeology since 2019.[8]
She is senior editor of Oxford Research Reviews in Archaeology, and has been the editor for Mesolithic Miscellany journal since 2006,[9] and co-author of popular book Star Carr: Life in Britain After the Ice Age, linked to a major exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum.[10][11] She is a member of the AHRC peer college, and a member of the assessment panel for the NERC radiocarbon facility.[12]
Milner is the principal investigator on the European Research Council funded POSTGLACIAL project,[15][16] investigating the occupation of north-west Europe and how people adapted to climate change during the early post-glacial period. The major case study for this research is Star Carr and other sites surrounding palaeo-lake Flixton. Her excavations at Star Carr were featured on a special episode of the UK Time Team,[17] and her work in 2013 on the "earliest house in Britain" was featured on several major news outlets worldwide, including the BBC[18] in the UK, CBS in the USA and Sky News Australia.
In addition to her work at iconic Star Carr, she has also worked on shell midden sites in Ireland, Scotland, Spain and Portugal, and has co-directed excavations as Howick and Baylet.
In November 2019 Milner was Highly Commended in the category of 'Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year' at the Times Higher Education Awards.[19]
Conneller, C., Milner, N., Taylor, B. and Taylor, M. 2012. 'Substantial settlement in the European Early Mesolithic: new research at Star Carr', Antiquity 86 (334), 1004–1020.
Milner, N., Conneller, C., Taylor, B. and Schadla-Hall, R.T. 2012. The Story of Star Carr. Council for British Archaeology.
Milner, N., Conneller, C., Elliott, B., Koon, H., Panter, I., Penkman, K., Taylor, B., and Taylor, M. 2011. 'From Riches to Rags: Organic Deterioration at Star Carr.' Journal of Archaeological Science 38 (10), 2818-2832.
Milner, N., Lane, P.J., Taylor, B., Conneller, C. and Schadla-Hall, T. 2011. 'Star Carr in a Postglacial Lakescape: 60 Years of Research', Journal of Wetland Archaeology 11 (1), 1-19.
Milner, N. and Craig, O.E. 2009. 'Mysteries of the middens: change and continuity across the Mesolithic Neolithic transition'. In M.J. Allen, N. Sharples & T. O'Connor (eds), Land and People. Papers in Honour of John G. Evans (Prehistoric Society Research Paper 2). Oxford, Oxbow. 169–180.
Milner, N., Mithen, S. and Ralston, I. 2009. 'Hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic'. In J Hunter (ed.), The Archaeology of Britain. London, Routledge. 53-77.
Milner, N. 2002. Incremental growth of the European Oyster, Ostrea edulis: seasonality information from Danish kitchenmiddens (British Archaeological Reports). OXford, Archaeopress.