Susan Bazely
GPHY 309 Instructor
Department of Geography and Planning
Biography
Sue Bazely has a PhD in Geography from Queen’s University, an MA in Archaeology and Heritage from the University of Leicester (UK) and BA in Anthropology (Archaeology) and Biophysical Systems (Physical Geography) from the University of Toronto.
She holds a professional licence in archaeology from the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism and has over 40 years’ experience in historical archaeology in Ontario. Sue participated in and directed excavations on numerous nationally significant sites in the Kingston region and Eastern Ontario in research and cultural resource management capacities.
A prominent figure in public archaeology and education programs, Sue Bazely received the Peggi Armstrong Award for Public Archaeology from the Ontario Archaeological Society in 2007. She has worked with all levels of government, and numerous heritage organizations as a director of the Kingston Association of Museums, Art Galleries & Historic Sites, Save Ontario Shipwrecks, and Preserve Our Wrecks Kingston, and with the Association of Professional Archaeologists of Ontario.
Sue directed the field school excavations in British Archaeology at the Queen’s University Bader International Study Centre at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, UK (2012 to 2015) – the project received a three-year grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to study climate change in the medieval period.
She has researched and presented papers and published articles on a variety of archaeological projects in the Kingston area and contributed to publications on Fort Frontenac and the War of 1812 including a chapter in The Archaeology of French and Indian War Frontier Forts. In 2018 Sue curated the exhibition Charles F. Gibson: Events of a Military Life in Kingston and published an accompanying book on the subject for the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. Current interests focus on 19th century British Military topographical recording including painting and mapping within the context of cultural landscapes and heritage of the Rideau Canal and Kingston Fortifications World Heritage Site and were part of her SSHRC funded doctoral research at Queen’s University. In 2024 Sue completed her PhD dissertation titled Landscapes of conflict: Heritage of the Rideau Canal and Kingston Fortifications World Heritage Site.
Between 2019 and 2023 Sue was project coordinator for the Lower Burial Ground Restoration Society cultural resource recording project under the church hall at St. Paul’s. She is currently coordinating a Story Map project on the sacred landscapes and burial places of the Kingston area including the Lower Burial Ground. Her chapter on commemoration and memorialization of Molly Brant will be published in the forthcoming book titled Monuments, Statues and Commemorations of Women in 2026.