(Apologies for double-postings)

PEST Courses and Conference 2009

Registration is open for the inaugural "DOUBLE-HEADER" SPRING PEST COURSE,
San Francisco, May 2009, comprising a two-day "Introduction to PEST" course
and a subsequent two-day "Advanced Analysis using PEST" course. The
introductory course is suitable to modelers with little to no experience
with inverse methods. This course will comprise about 50:50 lectures and
hands-on-exercises, with the aim of providing theoretical background on
least-squares inverse methods, and practical experience in their
implementation. In the advanced course the emphasis turns to highly
parameterized inversion in calibration of ground and surface water models,
and in exploration of the uncertainty associated with model parameters and
predictions. Topics covered in detail include the use of pilot points as a
parameterization device; advanced regularization techniques; the
"SVD-assist" technique for efficient inversion of highly parameterized
models; linear and nonlinear uncertainty analysis including the highly
expedient Null-Space Monte Carlo method that is unique to PEST. This course
will comprise about 80:20 lectures and hands-on exercises, with ample room
for discussion. Participants at either course will receive a CD containing
12 exercises to take away and study. Attendees can register for the
"Introductory" course, or the "Advanced" course, or both courses with a
discount on the individual course prices. Further information, including a
detailed course outline and registration details, is available at
http://www.sspa.com/Pest/training.shtml

Registration is open for THE INAUGURAL PEST CONFERENCE, to be held in The
Stained Glass Hall of the Bolger Center, Maryland, USA (
http://bolgercenter.dolce.com/ <http://bolgercenter.dolce.com/> ) November
2nd through 4th, 2009. The objective of bringing together modelers from a
variety of disciplines is to exchange ideas, discuss applications of the
PEST suite of programs, share lessons learned, discuss new and planned
developments, and seek input from modelers on inverse modeling needs to
guide future code development with a focus on PEST (www.sspa.com/pest). The
Conference will commence with a message from John Doherty, the developer of
PEST. This will be followed by morning and afternoon sessions, commencing
with a key-note address by a noted modeler, followed by submitted
presentations and a poster session. Submissions will be summarized in
extended abstracts and/or full papers published in electronic proceedings.
The conference will wrap with a question-and-answer session. Keynote
speakers include John Doherty (developer of PEST), Ghislain DeMarsily
(developer of the Pilot Point technique), Jim Rumbaugh (ESI, developer of
Groundwater Vistas), Jasper Vrugt (Los Alamos National Laboratory) and Randy
Hunt (US Geological Survey). A one-day "Introductory PEST Course" will be
held immediately prior to the conference, and a two-day "Advanced PEST
Course" will be held immediately following the PEST Conference, with
instruction from John Doherty, Jim Rumbaugh, and Matt Tonkin. Details
including information on abstract submissions, early-bird discounted
registration, accommodations, and the pre- and post-conference courses can
be found at www.sspa.com/ThePESTConference.


Regards,
Matt Tonkin
S.S. Papadopulos & Assoc., Inc.
email: <blocked::mailto:matt@...> matt@...