Suzanne Mills

Suzanne Mills is an Associate Professor in the School of Labour Studies at McMaster University, where she adopts a spatial lens to study identity, work, and labour unions. Her research examines multiple dimensions of work and organizing in northern and underdeveloped regions, with a particular focus on resource extraction industries and the experiences of marginalized workers.

• Bachelor of Science (with great distinction) Wildlife Biology, McGill University
• Master of Science Conservation Biology, University of Alberta
• PhD Human Geography, University of Saskatchewan
• SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Queen's University

Mills' research spans several interconnected areas including gender and northern resource development, Indigenous peoples' work and union experiences, and LGBTQ+ worker experiences. She examines how colonial and gender relations structure employment in mining, forestry, and hydro-development, and has increasingly focused on queer and trans workers in deindustrializing cities. Her community-engaged approach involves partnerships with Indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ organizations, worker centers, and trade unions. Recently, she has explored post-COVID migration to resource peripheries through the lenses of technological transformations in work, uneven development, and struggles for social reproduction.

Her scholarly output demonstrates a clear evolution from studying northern resource development and Indigenous employment toward increasingly intersectional analyses incorporating gender, sexuality, and colonial relations. Recent publications focus heavily on LGBTQ+ worker experiences, particularly examining discrimination, mental health, and labor market dynamics, while maintaining connections to her earlier work on spatial dimensions of work and resource extraction industries. This trajectory reflects growing scholarly attention to the complex interplay between identity, geography, and labor markets.

Mills has demonstrated significant impact through media coverage of her research, including features in McMaster's Faculty of Social Sciences on topics like "Queer and trans workers disproportionately represented in precarious work" and "Survey reveals huge gaps in LGBTQ+ support in Hamilton." Her work has been referenced in policy sources, Wikipedia, and picked up by multiple news outlets, indicating real-world relevance and application of her research findings.

Mills practices community-engaged research methodology, working directly with affected communities and organizations rather than conducting research on them. This approach is evident in her numerous reports and policy-relevant publications developed in partnership with Indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ organizations, and worker centers. Her teaching portfolio includes courses such as Work and the Environment, Advanced Labour Studies Theory, and Geographies of the North American Political Economy, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of her scholarship.