2nd PEST Conference - The Path from Data to Decisions
Mon Mar 6, 2023 - Fri Mar 10, 2023
Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa - La Jolla, CA, 92037
Description
Event Host: INTERA Incorporated
Organizing committee: John Doherty, Jeremy White, Matt Tonkin, Marsh Lavenue
Technical Steering Committee: Ed DeSousa, John Ewing, Mike Fienen, Randy Hunt, Catherine Moore, Chris Muffels, Jim Rumbaugh, Abhishek Singh. (Abstract acceptance notifications have been distributed. Please email PESTconference@intera.com if you submitted an abstract and did not receive an acceptance email.)
Conference Fee: $1,500* (REGISTRATION IS CLOSED)
*Conference fee includes the following:
- Breakfast and lunch Tuesday - Thursday
- Dinner and drinks Monday - Thursday
- Access to conference program listed below
- Pre and Post Short Courses (subject to availability)
** Conference fee does not include your room. Book your room at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel here: Hotels in La Jolla near San Diego | Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa
Conference Capacity - Limited to only 200 total attendees, so don't wait to register!
Event Program:
The full conference schedule can be found here.
Event Abstracts:
The complete list of abstracts presented can be found here.
Groundwater Resources Association of California
The PEST Conference welcomes the San Diego branch members of the GRA at Wednesday's reception and dinner!
Why come to the PEST conference?
Groundwater modeling is not about creating a digital replica of what happens underground. No-one can do that. Groundwater modeling is about quantifying the uncertainties of decision-critical predictions, and about reducing these uncertainties to the extent that available data allows. Risks can then be assessed and decisions can then be made.
Inversion, uncertainty analysis, and optimization – performed as an adjunct to simulation – are essential ingredients of decision-making. Once these are understood, other important (and often ignored) facets of decision-support modeling can be discussed, for these discussions then have a basis.
It is because PEST is more than software – it is a way of thinking about the processing of environmental data to support the making of important decisions. So, while the conference has the software name in its title, it is really focused on decision-support modeling in general.
The PEST conference will provide an important forum for discussions on issues that include:
- What are the best practices and metrics for decision-support modeling?
- How can clients, regulators, and stakeholders understand how best to use the results to make decisions?
- How complex does a decision-support model need to be (assuming we need a model at all)?
- How can we ensure that all sources of uncertainty have been accounted for, and that no unwanted surprises are lying in wait?
- How can disputes be better (and less expensively) settled through investigatory modeling?
The answers to these questions lie in strategic data assimilation and uncertainty analysis.
We invite you to the PEST conference to talk about these issues. Where else can they be discussed? Whether you are a modeling expert or a modeling stakeholder, there is a place for you at the PEST conference.
If you have a story about how PEST/PEST++ has helped you model, come and tell us your story. If you have a story about how expensive modeling may not have provided you value as a client, regulator, legislator, or attorney, come and tell us that too. We see this conference as the start of a longer journey that we hope will lead to more intelligent and more effective (and often less expensive) decision-support modeling.
Each day will feature two keynote addresses followed by attendee presentations.
Importantly, each day will also feature an afternoon discussion. These discussions are important, for they will address topics that the groundwater industry needs to talk about. They will be initiated by experts in the field; however, we see audience participation as essential, and it will be encouraged. Each discussion will be summarized and posted on GMDSI web pages, and there it will be continued as a blog, so that the wider industry can join in as well.
Day 2 Discussion: Using Models in Legal Disputes
Facilitators: Abhishek Singh and Marsh Lavenue (INTERA Incorporated), Shawn Hagerty (BB&K LLP), and Charlie Andrews (SSPA)
Day 3 Discussion: Optimization under Uncertainty
Facilitators: Greg Ruskauff, Ed DeSousa, and Abhishek Singh
Day 3 Discussion: Modeling, Policy, and Decision Making
Facilitators: Alyssa Dausmann, Catherine Moore
Day 4 Discussion: Where should we head from here….?
Facilitators: John Doherty, Jeremy White, Rui Hugman, and Michael Feinen
Confirmed Speakers:
We are lucky to have a diverse range of experienced speakers who are recognized experts in their fields. They will talk about a range of decision-support modelling issues, and their effects on the groundwater industry, and groundwater-related industries in general.
When it comes to decision-support modeling, WHY we model (i.e. the decisions that must be made) must determine HOW we model. Our speakers will address these issues – with lots of examples from their years of experience.
Thank you to our Platinum Sponsors, BHP and GMDSI!
Thank you to our Gold Sponsors, Environmental Simulations, Inc. (ESI) and S.S. Papadopulos and Associates, Inc. (SSP&A)!
LOCATION
Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa - La Jolla, CA, 92037
*Cancellation Policy - Full refund, less credit card fees and $50 administration fee until Feb 28, 2023. We are unable to provide refunds beginning March 1st, 2023.
Location
Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa - La Jolla, CA, 92037