Royette Tavernier Dubar was born in the village of Grand Bay, located in the small Caribbean island of Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic). Upon graduating from the Dominica State College, she was awarded a tuition scholarship to pursue an Associates Degree in General Liberal Arts at the University of St. Martin (Philipsburg, St. Maarten) – that’s where she took her first Psychology course and developed a passion for studying human behavior. A ‘Trent International Global Citizen Tuition Scholarship’ allowed her to continue her studies to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Trent University (Peterborough, ON, Canada). Her experience of completing her undergraduate thesis (which examined the role of cross-cultural contact on intercultural emotions among Canadian students) under the direction of Geoffrey Navara, sparked her interest in psychological research. As a former high school teacher in Dominica, Dubar was inspired by her students to dedicate her career to understanding the factors that contribute to the psychological wellbeing of youth. She obtained her Masters Degree in Child and Youth Studies from Brock University (St. Catharines, ON, Canada). Her masters thesis examined the link between meaning-making and psychological wellbeing.
In 2012, Dubar was awarded the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship to pursue her doctoral degree in Psychology. Dubar’s dedication to understanding what factors contribute to wellbeing among youth led her to explore the topic of sleep. Heeding to the important role that sleep plays across multiple domains of psychosocial adjustment, Dubar found her research niche and for her dissertation examined bidirectional associations between sleep and psychosocial functioning among university students. She obtained her Ph.D. in Psychology from Brock University, under the mentorship of Teena Willoughby. Subsequently, she was awarded a Post-doctoral Fellowship at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL), where she collaborated with Emma Adam in the Department of Human Development and Social Policy. Her love of teaching and passion for research, coupled with a desire to connect with both her students and their wider communities led her to the position of Assistant Professor of Psychology at Wesleyan University.
In addition to teaching and research, Dubar enjoys: spending time with her husband (Jason Dubar), son (Nolan Dubar), and their cat; cooking, walking/hiking and watching movies together; reading; listening to Caribbean music and spoiling her nieces and nephews.