Bubar is a licensed attorney and mediator as well as a nationally recognized trainer and expert in interviewing children in child sexual abuse cases. Her research interests include sexual violence, child maltreatment in tribal communities, and womyn of color feminisms. She works with state, federal and tribal agencies.

Her current research projects include sexual assault of Indigenous women/children, Native youth and STDs, racial and gendered microaggressions and Indigenous peoples, and examining professional power in social work relationships.

In 2013, Bubar was selected for the Tenured Professor Teaching Award in the College of Liberal Arts at Colorado State University and received a Fulbright Award for work on social work, education and law/policy at the University of Regina, Regina/Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Bubar earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire in 1980, her J.D. from the University of Colorado in 1987, and a mediation certification from CSU in 2007.