Predicting the future of any environmental system is fraught with uncertainty; nevertheless, decisions must be made and risks must be assessed. This is where decision support comes in.
The Groundwater Modelling Decision Support Initiative, an industry-aligned project supported by BHP and Rio Tinto sitting within the College’s National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, recently hosted a four-part webinar series – plus online Q&A session – aiming to foster a global dialogue on this important topic.
The series focused on decision-support modelling principles and practice, and aimed to assist those who build decision-support models to extend their skills and to empower those who commission or rely on models.
The sessions were attended by nearly 1500 people from across Australia and the world. The audience spanned Commonwealth and state governments, academia, consultancies and industry, demonstrating a strong demand for training on this topic.
Panellists included John Doherty (author of PEST), Cath Moore (CSIRO), Jeremy White (USGS), Blair Douglas (BHP), Keith Brown (Rio Tinto) and Craig Simmons (Flinders University) offering participants the opportunity to benefit from a genuinely wide breadth of knowledge and expertise.