(Apologies for double-posting)

The DOW is up (or was it down today?), and the economic outlook is rosy (or
is it gloomy today?). It is so confusing. But, one thing is certain - the
early-bird registration and abstract submittal date for the inaugural PEST
Conference is fast approaching..!

The first-ever PEST Conference will be held in The Stained Glass Hall of the
Bolger Center, Potomac, Maryland ( <http://bolgercenter.dolce.com/>
http://bolgercenter.dolce.com/) November 2nd through 4th, 2009. The goal is
to bring together modelers from a variety of disciplines to discuss inverse
modeling - i.e., parameter estimation and uncertainty analysis - with a
focus on the PEST suite of programs, and seek input from modelers on inverse
modeling needs to guide future code development. The conference will
commence with a message from John Doherty, the developer of PEST, and will
follow with morning and afternoon sessions, each commencing with a key-note
address given by a noted modeler. A poster session will be held one evening.
Oral and poster submissions will be summarized in extended abstracts and/or
full papers, published in electronic proceedings distributed on thumb
drives. The conference will wrap-up with a question-and-answer session
during which attendees will be able to ask questions and provide suggestions
for future development directions. 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.

Conference details including information on abstract submissions, early-bird
discounted registration, accommodations, and the pre- and post-conference
courses can be found at:

<http://www.sspa.com/ThePESTConference> www.sspa.com/ThePESTConference

Best wishes -

Matt Tonkin, SSP&A
Email: <mailto:pest@...> pest@...