The Center for Big Bend Studies at Sul Ross State University will hold its 29th Annual Conference Nov. 10-11 at the Vic and Mary Jane Morgan University Center on the Alpine campus.

More than 30 informative presentations are planned on the history, archaeology and culture of the Big Bend and northern Mexico.

This year’s Keynote Speaker is Dr. Matthew R. Bennett, geographer, geologist, world-renowned footprint expert and head of the Institute for Landscape and Human Evolution at Bournemouth University. His recent discovery of ancient human footprints in White Sands National Park revealed new evidence of past behaviors and human presence in the Americas and has received world-wide press coverage from National Geographic, PBS, Science magazine, NPR and The Atlantic, to name a few.

His presentation, “Stepping towards a paradigm shift: the White Sands footprints,” will explore the finding and reveal what they can say about life on the playa during the Ice Age. He will discuss the implications for the peopling of the Americas and how American archaeology is on the cusp of a paradigm shift in which footprints traces will transform our knowledge of the first Americans over the coming decade.

Dr. Bennett will speak at the Friday night banquet at the historic Granada Theater in downtown Alpine.

The cost to attend the conference is $55 for the general public before Nov. 3 and $60 thereafter. Tickets will be available at the door. It is $50 for members and free for SRSU students, staff and faculty.

The cost for the banquet is $40 for members, students, staff and faculty and $45 for the general public.

Tickets for the conference and banquet, as well as vendor registration, can be purchased online at https://secure.touchnet.com/C20202_ustores/web/store_cat.jsp?STOREID=5&CATID=18&SINGLESTORE=true.

Visit http://cbbs.sulross.edu, email cbbs@sulross.edu or call 432-837-8179 for more information.