Speaker
Description
In environmental chemistry, understanding of how chemicals move in the environment and end up in animals and humans is fundamental. For this purpose, we do field- and laboratory based research to measure chemical concentrations. But we also design, develop, and apply computer software which can simulate the journey a chemical makes on its way through air, water, and food webs. These models use a large amount of input data on properties of the chemicals, the environment, and the animals, to calculate chemical concentrations in fish, seabirds, or polar bears. However, many of these models are based on legacy code developed over decades. This presentation will present a case-study where a large legacy code-base in Visual Basic 6 for a chemical bioaccumulation model was converted to modern object-oriented Python code in close collaboration between environmental chemists and research software engineers. A particular focus will be put upon the process and the collaboration, highlighting the importance and significance of research software engineering.