diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 0ee67495..a0543487 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -35,6 +35,23 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install linux deps
         run: sudo apt-get install -y libcurl4-openssl-dev
 
+      - name: Set up Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v2
+        with:
+          python-version: 3.8
+      
+      - name: Install python dependencies
+        run: pip install jep==3.9  # Install the jep library
+
+      - name: Set JEP_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable
+        run: |
+          echo "JEP_LIBRARY_PATH=$(python -c 'import site; print(site.getsitepackages()[0])')/jep" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: test
+        run: |
+          echo $JEP_LIBRARY_PATH
+          ls $JEP_LIBRARY_PATH
+
       - name: Install deps
         run: Rscript -e 'install.packages(c("httr", "jsonlite", "remotes"))'
       
@@ -58,7 +75,7 @@ jobs:
 
   docker-publish:
     name: Docker Build and Publish
-    if: github.ref_name == 'develop' || startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') || startsWith(github.ref_name, 'bugfix')
+    if: github.ref_name == 'develop' || startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') || startsWith(github.ref_name, 'feature')
     needs: maven-build
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index af81a530..3bb1538e 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -20,6 +20,18 @@
                 ".",
                 "${fileDirname}"
             ]
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "Run MDQEngine",
+            "type": "java",
+            "request": "launch",
+            "mainClass": "edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.MDQEngine",
+            "args": [
+                "/opt/local/metadig/suites/python-suite.xml",
+                "${workspaceFolder}/src/test/resources/test-docs/doi:10.18739_A2W08WG3R.xml",
+                "${workspaceFolder}/src/test/resources/test-docs/doi:10.18739_A2W08WG3R.sm",
+            ],
+            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
         }
     ]
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Docker/metadig-worker/Dockerfile b/Docker/metadig-worker/Dockerfile
index 2fac2518..b1a24c53 100644
--- a/Docker/metadig-worker/Dockerfile
+++ b/Docker/metadig-worker/Dockerfile
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ LABEL maintainer="Jeanette Clark jclark@nceas.ucsb.edu"
 # Set the working directory 
 WORKDIR /var/lib/metadig
 
-ARG ENGINE_TAG=2.0.0
+ARG ENGINE_TAG=3.0.0-SNAPSHOT
 ENV ENGINE_TAG=${ENGINE_TAG}
 
 # The most recently built jar file is copied from the maven build directory to this dir by maven, so that
@@ -24,7 +24,11 @@ COPY target/metadig-engine-$ENGINE_TAG.jar metadig-engine-$ENGINE_TAG.jar
 COPY Docker/metadig-worker/solr solr/
 
 RUN apt-get update
-RUN apt-get install -y g++ r-base r-base-dev r-base-core r-doc-html libc6-dev libssl-dev libxml2 libxml2-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev
+RUN apt-get install -y g++ git r-base r-base-dev r-base-core r-doc-html libc6-dev libssl-dev libxml2 libxml2-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev python3 python3-pip python3-dev openjdk-17-jdk
+
+# Set Java environment variables
+ENV JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64
+ENV PATH="$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin"
 
 # Install required R packages
 RUN echo 'options(repos = c(CRAN = "http://cran.rstudio.com"))' >> /usr/lib/R/etc/Rprofile.site
@@ -34,6 +38,9 @@ RUN Rscript -e "remotes::install_github('NCEAS/metadig-r', ref = 'v.0.2.0')"
 # DataONE indexer prints copious error msgs if these files don't exist
 RUN mkdir -p /etc/dataone/index && touch /etc/dataone/index/d1client.properties && touch /etc/dataone/node.properties && touch /etc/dataone/index/cn-index-processor.properties
 
+COPY Docker/metadig-worker/requirements.txt /opt/local/metadig/
+RUN pip install -r /opt/local/metadig/requirements.txt
+
 # Run the Worker process
 # Note: docker --buile-arg only allows one argument (one token only, multiple tokens inside quotes doesn't work, so have
 #   to specify java options directly on command line.
diff --git a/Docker/metadig-worker/requirements.txt b/Docker/metadig-worker/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5186f3f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Docker/metadig-worker/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+numpy
+metadig @ git+https://github.com/NCEAS/metadig-py.git
diff --git a/bin/sendAssessmentTest.py b/bin/sendAssessmentTest.py
index 7f8ecc36..8e0cc543 100755
--- a/bin/sendAssessmentTest.py
+++ b/bin/sendAssessmentTest.py
@@ -1,15 +1,12 @@
-#!/Users/clark/.virtualenvs/metadig/bin/python
-
-# this is a shebang to your python path. needs to be 2.7
-#/usr/bin/python
+#!/usr/bin/python
 
 # This Python program can be used for local testing of RabbitMQ messaging between
 # metadig services, assessment processing and Solr indexing.
 
 import sys
 import re
-print "Sending assessment request to metadig-controler (test mode):"
-print "Number of arguments: ", len(sys.argv)
+print("Sending assessment request to metadig-controller (test mode):")
+print("Number of arguments: ", len(sys.argv))
 import socket
 
 host="localhost"
@@ -24,7 +21,7 @@
 clientsocket.connect((host, portNum))
 
 testCount = 1
-suiteId = "test.suite"
+suiteId = "python.suite"
 nodeId = "urn:node:ARCTIC"
 
 idVal = "doi:10.18739/A2W08WG3R"
@@ -34,17 +31,17 @@
 smFile = "%s/%s.sm" % (testDir, fileIdVal)
 
 # First send the type of request, either 'graph' or 'quality'
-clientsocket.send("%s\n" % 'quality')
+clientsocket.send('quality\n'.encode('utf-8'))
 
 # Next send the number of tests that will be run
-clientsocket.send("%s\n" % testCount)
+clientsocket.send(f"{testCount}\n".encode('utf-8'))
 
 msg = '%s,%s,%s,%s,%s\n' % (idVal, mdFile, smFile, suiteId, nodeId)
 
 print(msg)
-clientsocket.send(msg)
+clientsocket.send(msg.encode('utf-8'))
 
 # Server will stop reading from the current port connection
-clientsocket.send("Done\n")
+clientsocket.send("Done\n".encode('utf-8'))
 # Server will stop reading from any port connection, but will continue to run
 clientsocket.close()
diff --git a/bin/startController.sh b/bin/startController.sh
index d7064d32..23eb518e 100755
--- a/bin/startController.sh
+++ b/bin/startController.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-version=2.5.0
+version=3.0.0-SNAPSHOT
 
 # Use first argument if sending jobs via port, for testing, for example:
 java -cp /opt/local/metadig/config:./target/metadig-engine-${version}.jar edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.Controller 33000
diff --git a/bin/startWorker.sh b/bin/startWorker.sh
index a5c7da61..640ff99c 100755
--- a/bin/startWorker.sh
+++ b/bin/startWorker.sh
@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Start a local copy of metadig-worker for RabbitMQ based development testing.
-version=2.5.0
+version=3.0.0-SNAPSHOT
 
-# Include the MetaDIG python library
-export JYTHONPATH=/opt/local/metadig/metadig-py
-
-java -cp /opt/local/metadig/config:./target/metadig-engine-${version}.jar:./target/classes/solr -Dpython.path=JYTHONPATH edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.Worker
+java -cp /opt/local/metadig/config:./target/metadig-engine-${version}.jar:./target/classes/solr edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.Worker
 
diff --git a/helm/metadig-controller/Chart.yaml b/helm/metadig-controller/Chart.yaml
index 564e1d8d..a4eebb89 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-controller/Chart.yaml
+++ b/helm/metadig-controller/Chart.yaml
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ type: application
 # This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
-version: 1.0.2
+version: 1.0.4
 
 # This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
 # incremented each time you make changes to the application. Versions are not expected to
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.
-appVersion: "2.5.0"
+appVersion: "3.0.0"
diff --git a/helm/metadig-controller/config.dev/metadig.properties b/helm/metadig-controller/config.dev/metadig.properties
index ada5d878..added0b1 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-controller/config.dev/metadig.properties
+++ b/helm/metadig-controller/config.dev/metadig.properties
@@ -33,4 +33,6 @@ quartz.monitor = true
 quartz.monitor.schedule = 0 0 0 * * ?
 quartz.monitor.processing.time = 12
 quartz.monitor.run.limit = 10
+# jep library
+jep.path = /usr/local/lib/python3.10/dist-packages/jep
 
diff --git a/helm/metadig-controller/config/metadig.properties b/helm/metadig-controller/config/metadig.properties
index 3674dda1..23044e29 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-controller/config/metadig.properties
+++ b/helm/metadig-controller/config/metadig.properties
@@ -59,3 +59,5 @@ quartz.monitor = true
 quartz.monitor.schedule = 0 0 0 * * ?
 quartz.monitor.processing.time = 12
 quartz.monitor.run.limit = 10
+# jep library
+jep.path = /usr/local/lib/python3.10/dist-packages/jep
diff --git a/helm/metadig-controller/values.yaml b/helm/metadig-controller/values.yaml
index 80931bc7..0643279d 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-controller/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/metadig-controller/values.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ replicaCount: 1
 image:
   repository: ghcr.io/nceas/metadig-controller
   pullPolicy: Always
-  tag: "v.2.5.0"
+  tag: "v.3.0.0"
 
 
 imagePullSecrets: []
diff --git a/helm/metadig-scheduler/Chart.yaml b/helm/metadig-scheduler/Chart.yaml
index 9ae738fa..745af7e7 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-scheduler/Chart.yaml
+++ b/helm/metadig-scheduler/Chart.yaml
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ type: application
 # This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
-version: 1.0.3
+version: 1.0.4
 
 # This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
 # incremented each time you make changes to the application. Versions are not expected to
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.
-appVersion: "2.5.0"
+appVersion: "3.0.0"
diff --git a/helm/metadig-scheduler/config.dev/taskList.csv b/helm/metadig-scheduler/config.dev/taskList.csv
index 84b89c2e..86e64ed7 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-scheduler/config.dev/taskList.csv
+++ b/helm/metadig-scheduler/config.dev/taskList.csv
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ task-type,task-name,task-group,cron-schedule,params
 #   - requestType: for score tasks, determine type of portal processing ("portal" or "node")
 #
 # Dataset quality scoring tasks
-quality,quality-test-arctic,metadig,5 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;arctic.data.center.suite.1;urn:node:mnTestARCTIC;2022-05-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000"
-quality,quality-test-dataone-fair,metadig,10 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*|.*www.isotc211.org.*;FAIR-suite-0.3.1;urn:node:cnStage;2022-05-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000"
+quality,quality-test-arctic,metadig,5 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;arctic.data.center.suite-1.2.0;urn:node:mnTestARCTIC;2022-05-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000"
+quality,quality-test-dataone-fair,metadig,10 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*|.*www.isotc211.org.*;FAIR-suite-0.4.0;urn:node:cnStage;2022-05-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000"
 #
 # Portal scoring tasks
 score,portal-test-arctic-FAIR,metadig,10 0/1 * * * ?,"*portals*;FAIR-suite-0.3.1;urn:node:mnTestARCTIC;2022-05-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;100;portal"
diff --git a/helm/metadig-scheduler/config/taskList.csv b/helm/metadig-scheduler/config/taskList.csv
index 70a5acbf..989c936b 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-scheduler/config/taskList.csv
+++ b/helm/metadig-scheduler/config/taskList.csv
@@ -20,14 +20,14 @@ task-type,task-name,task-group,cron-schedule,params
 #
 # Dataset quality scoring tasks
 quality,quality-knb,metadig,0 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;knb.suite.1;urn:node:KNB;2020-08-24T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000"
-quality,quality-arctic,metadig,5 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;arctic.data.center.suite.1;urn:node:ARCTIC;2022-04-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000"
-quality,quality-arctic,metadig,5 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;FAIR-suite-0.3.1;urn:node:ARCTIC;2022-04-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000"
-quality,quality-dataone-fair,metadig,10 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*|.*www.isotc211.org.*;FAIR-suite-0.3.1;urn:node:CN;2010-01-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000"
-quality,quality-ess-dive,metadig,15 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;ess-dive.data.center.suite-1.1.0;urn:node:ESS_DIVE;2016-01-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000;"
-quality,quality-cerp_sfwmd,metadig,20 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;FAIR-suite-0.3.1;urn:node:CERP_SFWMD;2010-10-07T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000;"
-quality,quality-CA_OPC,metadig,25 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;FAIR-suite-0.3.1;urn:node:CA_OPC;2010-10-07T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000;"
-quality,quality-sctld,metadig,30 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;FAIR-suite-0.3.1;urn:node:SCTLD;2010-10-07T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000;"
-quality,quality-drp,metadig,35 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;FAIR-suite-0.3.1;urn:node:DRP;2010-10-07T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000;"
+quality,quality-arctic,metadig,5 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;arctic.data.center.suite-1.2.0;urn:node:ARCTIC;2022-04-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000"
+quality,quality-arctic,metadig,5 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;FAIR-suite-0.4.0;urn:node:ARCTIC;2022-04-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000"
+quality,quality-dataone-fair,metadig,10 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*|.*www.isotc211.org.*;FAIR-suite-0.4.0;urn:node:CN;2010-01-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000"
+quality,quality-ess-dive,metadig,15 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;ess-dive.data.center.suite-1.2.0;urn:node:ESS_DIVE;2016-01-01T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000;"
+quality,quality-cerp_sfwmd,metadig,20 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;FAIR-suite-0.4.0;urn:node:CERP_SFWMD;2010-10-07T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000;"
+quality,quality-CA_OPC,metadig,25 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;FAIR-suite-0.4.0;urn:node:CA_OPC;2010-10-07T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000;"
+quality,quality-sctld,metadig,30 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;FAIR-suite-0.4.0;urn:node:SCTLD;2010-10-07T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000;"
+quality,quality-drp,metadig,35 0/1 * * * ?,"^eml.*|^http.*eml.*;FAIR-suite-0.4.0;urn:node:DRP;2010-10-07T00:00:00.00Z;1;1000;"
 #
 # Portal scoring tasks
 score,portal-KNB-FAIR,metadig,1 0/1 * * * ?,"*portals*;FAIR-suite-0.3.1;urn:node:KNB;2020-08-10T00:00:00.00Z;1;100;portal"
diff --git a/helm/metadig-scheduler/values.yaml b/helm/metadig-scheduler/values.yaml
index 4d7e5ca5..8d49cb2d 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-scheduler/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/metadig-scheduler/values.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ replicaCount: 1
 image:
   repository: ghcr.io/nceas/metadig-scheduler
   pullPolicy: Always
-  tag: "v.2.5.0"
+  tag: "v.3.0.0"
 
 imagePullSecrets: []
 nameOverride: ""
diff --git a/helm/metadig-scorer/Chart.yaml b/helm/metadig-scorer/Chart.yaml
index e410cf2f..0ff7f758 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-scorer/Chart.yaml
+++ b/helm/metadig-scorer/Chart.yaml
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ type: application
 # This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
-version: 1.0.2
+version: 1.0.4
 
 # This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
 # incremented each time you make changes to the application. Versions are not expected to
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.
-appVersion: "2.5.0"
+appVersion: "3.0.0"
diff --git a/helm/metadig-scorer/values.yaml b/helm/metadig-scorer/values.yaml
index 7fc3eeca..3d6952df 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-scorer/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/metadig-scorer/values.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ replicaCount: 1
 image:
   repository: ghcr.io/nceas/metadig-scorer
   pullPolicy: Always
-  tag: "v.2.5.0"
+  tag: "v.3.0.0"
 
 
 imagePullSecrets: []
diff --git a/helm/metadig-worker/Chart.yaml b/helm/metadig-worker/Chart.yaml
index 4ee19fad..18287cc9 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-worker/Chart.yaml
+++ b/helm/metadig-worker/Chart.yaml
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ type: application
 # This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
-version: 1.0.2
+version: 1.0.4
 
 # This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
 # incremented each time you make changes to the application. Versions are not expected to
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.
-appVersion: "2.5.0"
+appVersion: "3.0.0"
diff --git a/helm/metadig-worker/values.yaml b/helm/metadig-worker/values.yaml
index 2cbbb3cc..5c2bc8bd 100644
--- a/helm/metadig-worker/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/metadig-worker/values.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ replicaCount: 1
 image:
   repository: ghcr.io/nceas/metadig-worker
   pullPolicy: Always
-  tag: "v.2.5.0"
+  tag: "v.3.0.0"
 
 imagePullSecrets: []
 nameOverride: ""
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 1a0503cf..cd942b78 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>edu.ucsb.nceas</groupId>
   <artifactId>metadig-engine</artifactId>
-  <version>2.5.0</version>
+  <version>3.0.0</version>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>metadig-engine</name>
   <description>MetaDIG library for running metadata quality tests</description>
@@ -16,14 +16,14 @@
     <renjin.version>0.8.2567</renjin.version>
     <jython.version>2.7.3</jython.version>
     <gson.version>2.10.1</gson.version>
-    <json-path.version>2.4.0</json-path.version>
+    <json-path.version>2.8.0</json-path.version>
     <moxy.version>2.7.0</moxy.version>
-    <log4j.version>2.20.0</log4j.version>
+    <log4j.version>2.23.0</log4j.version>
     <d1_cn_index_processor_version>2.3.15</d1_cn_index_processor_version>
     <d1_cn_index_common_version>2.3.2</d1_cn_index_common_version>
     <!-- Have to use a very old version of Spring in order to stay compatible with d1_cn_index_processor -->
     <!-- <spring.version>4.3.8.RELEASE</spring.version> -->
-    <spring.version>3.1.4.RELEASE</spring.version>
+    <spring.version>5.3.22</spring.version>
     <!-- <docker.registry>docker.io</docker.registry> -->
     <docker.repo>metadig</docker.repo>
     <docker.tag>2.5.0</docker.tag>
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
     <url>http://nceas.ucsb.edu</url>
   </organization>
   <dependencies>
+
     <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.quartz-scheduler/quartz -->
     <!--<dependency>-->
     <!--<groupId>org.quartz-scheduler</groupId>-->
@@ -63,9 +64,9 @@
     </dependency>
     <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.python/jython-standalone -->
     <dependency>
-      <groupId>org.python</groupId>
-      <artifactId>jython-standalone</artifactId>
-      <version>${jython.version}</version>
+      <groupId>black.ninia</groupId>
+      <artifactId>jep</artifactId>
+      <version>4.1.1</version>
     </dependency>
     <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/junit/junit -->
     <dependency>
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
       <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
-      <version>2.13.0</version>
+      <version>2.15.1</version>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
@@ -182,7 +183,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.solr</groupId>
       <artifactId>solr-core</artifactId>
-      <version>9.3.0</version>
+      <version>9.4.1</version>
       <exclusions>
         <exclusion>
           <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
@@ -217,7 +218,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
       <artifactId>slf4j-log4j12</artifactId>
-      <version>1.6.1</version>
+      <version>1.7.33</version>
       <exclusions>
         <exclusion>
           <groupId>log4j</groupId>
@@ -243,7 +244,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>
       <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>
-      <version>1.2</version>
+      <version>1.3.0</version>
       <exclusions>
         <exclusion>
           <groupId>log4j</groupId>
@@ -320,6 +321,10 @@
           <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
           <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
         </exclusion>
+        <exclusion>
+          <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+          <artifactId>spring-context-support</artifactId>
+        </exclusion>
       </exclusions>
     </dependency>
     <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.json/json -->
@@ -332,7 +337,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.postgresql</groupId>
       <artifactId>postgresql</artifactId>
-      <version>42.6.0</version>
+      <version>42.7.2</version>
     </dependency>
     <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.apache.httpcomponents/httpcore -->
     <dependency>
@@ -421,10 +426,10 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>2.5.1</version>
+        <version>3.8.1</version>
         <configuration>
-          <source>1.8</source>
-          <target>1.8</target>
+          <source>17</source>
+          <target>17</target>
         </configuration>
       </plugin>
       <!-- Include all dependencies using a 'shade' jar so that the
@@ -436,7 +441,7 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>3.1.0</version>
+        <version>3.5.1</version>
         <executions>
           <execution>
             <phase>package</phase>
@@ -487,7 +492,7 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>1.8</version>
+        <version>3.1.0</version>
         <executions>
           <execution>
             <id>copy-jar-file</id>
@@ -515,7 +520,7 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>3.0.0-M3</version>
+        <version>3.2.5</version>
         <configuration>
           <excludes>
             <exclude>${modules.test.excludes}</exclude>
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/MDQEngine.java b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/MDQEngine.java
index 7d187846..ec5425bf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/MDQEngine.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/MDQEngine.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine;
 
+import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.dispatch.Dispatcher;
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.dispatch.MDQCache;
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.exception.MetadigException;
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.model.*;
@@ -128,6 +129,8 @@ public Run runSuite(Suite suite, InputStream input, Map<String, Object> params,
 		}
 		run.setResult(results);
 
+		Dispatcher.getDispatcher("python").close();
+		
 		log.trace("Run results: " + JsonMarshaller.toJson(run));
 		
 		// clean up
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/Worker.java b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/Worker.java
index 66a3aea3..471c8dd8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/Worker.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/Worker.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import com.rabbitmq.client.*;
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.collections.Runs;
+import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.dispatch.Dispatcher;
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.exception.MetadigException;
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.exception.MetadigIndexException;
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.exception.MetadigProcessException;
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ public static void main(String[] argv) throws Exception {
 
         Worker wkr = new Worker();
         MDQconfig cfg = new MDQconfig();
+        Dispatcher.setupJep();
 
         try {
             RabbitMQpassword = cfg.getString("RabbitMQ.password");
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/Dispatcher.java b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/Dispatcher.java
index 5dc778ea..2a366c44 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/Dispatcher.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/Dispatcher.java
@@ -1,29 +1,41 @@
 package edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.dispatch;
 
+import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.MDQconfig;
+import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.exception.MetadigException;
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.model.Output;
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.model.Result;
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.model.Status;
+import jep.JepException;
+import jep.MainInterpreter;
+
+import org.apache.commons.configuration2.ex.ConfigurationException;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
-import org.python.jsr223.PyScriptEngineFactory;
 
-import javax.script.*;
+import javax.script.ScriptContext;
+import javax.script.ScriptEngine;
+import javax.script.ScriptException;
+import javax.script.ScriptEngineManager;
+import javax.script.Invocable;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Map.Entry;
 
 public class Dispatcher {
-	
-	protected Log log = LogFactory.getLog(this.getClass());
-
-	protected ScriptEngine engine = null;
-	protected String engineName = null;
-	
-	protected Map<String, Object> bindings = null;
-	
-	// create a script engine manager:
+
+    protected Log log = LogFactory.getLog(this.getClass());
+
+    protected ScriptEngine engine = null;
+    protected String engineName = null;
+
+    protected Map<String, Object> bindings = null;
+
+    // create a script engine manager:
     protected ScriptEngineManager manager = new ScriptEngineManager();
-    protected PyScriptEngineFactory pySEF;
 
     private static Map<String, Dispatcher> instances = new HashMap<>();
 
@@ -32,169 +44,257 @@ public class Dispatcher {
      * There are many options for the code and some depend on the engine being used:
      * 1) script code that uses given global variables
      * 2) function definition for call() that uses given global variables
-     * 3) fully-qualified Java bean name that implements Callable<Result> and has properties that 
+     * 3) fully-qualified Java bean name that implements Callable<Result> and has
+     * properties that
      * match the given variable names
-     * @param variables the variable name/values that will be made available to the script
-     * @param code the code, function definition, or classname
-     * @return
+     * 
+     * @param variables the variable name/values that will be made available to the
+     *                  script
+     * @param code      the code, function definition, or classname
+     * @return result of type mdqengine.Result
      * @throws ScriptException
      */
-	public Result dispatch(Map<String, Object> variables, String code) throws ScriptException {
-		Result dr = new Result();
-		
-		for (Entry<String, Object> entry: variables.entrySet()) {
-			log.trace("Setting variable: " + entry.getKey() + "=" + entry.getValue());
-			engine.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
-		}
-		log.debug("Evaluating code: " + code);
-		
-		Object res = null;
-		try {
-			res = engine.eval(code);
-			log.trace("Result: " + res);
-
-		} catch (Exception e) {
-			// let's report this
-			dr.setStatus(Status.ERROR);
-			dr.setOutput(new Output(e.getMessage()));
-			log.warn("Error encountered evaluating code: " + e.getMessage());
-			return dr;
-		}
-		
-		// defining functions can result in different results depending on the engine
-		if (
-				res == null // python
-				|| res.toString().equals("function()") // r
-				|| res.getClass().getName().equals("sun.org.mozilla.javascript.internal.InterpretedFunction") // js, java 7 (rhino)
-				|| res.getClass().getName().equals("jdk.nashorn.api.scripting.ScriptObjectMirror") // js, java 8 (nashorn)
-				) {
-			Invocable invoc = (Invocable) engine;
-			try {
-				res = invoc.invokeFunction("call");
-				log.trace("Invocation result: " + res);
-			} catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
-				dr.setStatus(Status.ERROR);
-				dr.setOutput(new Output(e.getMessage()));
-				log.warn("Error encountered invoking function: " + e.getMessage());
-				return dr;
-			}
-		}
-		
-		if (res instanceof Result) {
-			dr = (Result) res;
-		} else {
-		
-			// do we have a result object?
-			Object var = engine.get("mdq_result");
-			if (var != null && !var.toString().equals("<unbound>")) {
-				log.trace("result is: " + var);
-				log.debug("result is class: " + var.getClass());
-	
-				dr = (Result) var;
-			} else {
-				
-				// if no explicit output included in structure
-				if (res !=null) {
-					dr.setOutput(new Output(res.toString()));
-				}
-				
-				// try to find other result items
-				var = engine.get("output");
-				if (var != null && !var.toString().equals("<unbound>")) {
-					dr.setOutput(new Output(var.toString()));
-				}
-				var = engine.get("status");
-				if (var != null && !var.toString().equals("<unbound>")) {
-					dr.setStatus(Status.valueOf(var.toString()));
-				} else {
-					// assume a true result means that the test was successful
-					if (res !=null) {
-						boolean interpolatedStatus = Boolean.valueOf(res.toString());
-						if (interpolatedStatus) {
-							dr.setStatus(Status.SUCCESS);
-						} else {
-							dr.setStatus(Status.FAILURE);
-						}
-					}
-				}
-			}
-		}
-		
-		// harvest all other vars for downstream dispatchers
-		bindings = engine.getBindings(ScriptContext.ENGINE_SCOPE);
-		
-		return dr;
-		
-	}
-	
-	public boolean isEnvSupported(String env) {
-		String currentEnv = engine.getFactory().getLanguageName();
-		log.debug("currentEnv=" + currentEnv);
-		return env.equalsIgnoreCase(currentEnv);
-	}
-	
-	protected Dispatcher() {}
-
-	private Dispatcher(String engineName) {
-
-	    // Register the Python scripting engine, otherwise the ScriptEngineFactory
-		// discovery mechanism will not find the python engine.
-	    if(engineName.equalsIgnoreCase("python")) {
-			pySEF = new PyScriptEngineFactory();
-			manager.registerEngineName("python", pySEF);
-		}
-		// create a the engine:
-	    engine = manager.getEngineByName(engineName);
-
-	    // check if the engine has loaded correctly:
-	    if (engine == null) {
-	        throw new RuntimeException(engineName + " Engine not found on the classpath.");
-	    }
-	    
-	}
-
-	public static Dispatcher getDispatcher(String env) {
-
-		String engineName = null;
-		Dispatcher instance = null;
-		if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("r") || env.equalsIgnoreCase("rscript") ) {
-			engineName = "r";
-		} else if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("renjin")) {
-			engineName = "Renjin";
-		} else if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("python")) {
-			engineName = "python";
-		} else if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("JavaScript")) {
-			engineName = "JavaScript";
-		} else if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("Java")) {
-			engineName = "Java";}
-
-		if (!instances.containsKey(engineName)) {
-		    synchronized(Dispatcher.class) {
-				if (!instances.containsKey(engineName)) {
-					if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("Java")) {
-						instance = new JavaDispatcher();
-					} else if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("r") || env.equalsIgnoreCase("rscript")) {
-						instance = new RDispatcher();
-					} else {
-						instance = new Dispatcher(engineName);
-					}
-					instance.engineName = engineName;
-					instances.put(engineName, instance);
+    public Result dispatch(Map<String, Object> variables, String code) throws ScriptException {
+
+        Result dr = new Result();
+
+        for (Entry<String, Object> entry : variables.entrySet()) {
+            log.trace("Setting variable: " + entry.getKey() + "=" + entry.getValue());
+            engine.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
+        }
+        log.debug("Evaluating code: " + code);
+
+        Object res = null;
+        try {
+            res = engine.eval(code);
+            if (res != "_NA_") {
+                log.trace("Result: " + res);
+            }
+
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            // let's report this
+            dr.setStatus(Status.ERROR);
+            dr.setOutput(new Output(e.getMessage()));
+            log.warn("Error encountered evaluating code: " + e.getMessage());
+            return dr;
+        }
+
+        // defining functions can result in different results depending on the engine
+        // NOTE: return values from python must be retrieved by name
+        if (res.toString().equals("function()") // r
+                // js, java 7
+                || res.getClass().getName().equals("sun.org.mozilla.javascript.internal.InterpretedFunction")
+                // js, java 8
+                || res.getClass().getName().equals("jdk.nashorn.api.scripting.ScriptObjectMirror")) {
+            Invocable invoc = (Invocable) engine;
+            try {
+                res = invoc.invokeFunction("call");
+                log.trace("Invocation result: " + res);
+            } catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
+                dr.setStatus(Status.ERROR);
+                dr.setOutput(new Output(e.getMessage()));
+                log.warn("Error encountered invoking function: " + e.getMessage());
+                return dr;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (res instanceof Result) { // if res is a Result, save it
+            dr = (Result) res;
+        } else if (res != null && res != "_NA_") { // if res is a string, save it
+            dr.setOutput(new Output(res.toString()));
+        } else {
+            // for R and Python, the result has to be retrieved from engine global vars
+            Object var_r = null;
+            Object var_py = null;
+            // do we have a result object from an R check?
+            try {
+                var_r = engine.get("mdq_result");
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                // catch this silently since we are just fishing for results
+                // the no result case is handled later
+                log.trace("No result found for R check variable variable mdq_result.");
+            }
+            // save the result if we get one
+            if (var_r != null && !var_r.toString().equals("<unbound>")) {
+                log.trace("result is: " + var_r);
+                log.debug("result is class: " + var_r.getClass());
+
+                dr = (Result) var_r;
+            } else {
+                // try to find other result items from python checks
+                try {
+                    var_py = engine.get("call()"); // run the python function
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    log.error(e.getMessage());
+                    log.error(e.getStackTrace());
+                    dr.setOutput(new Output("ERROR: " + e.getMessage())); // catch the python stack trace
+                    dr.setStatus(Status.valueOf("ERROR"));
+                }
+                // try to get the global output variable from python
+                try {
+                    var_py = engine.get("output");
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    log.trace("No result found for python check variable variable output.");
+                    // catch this silently since we are just fishing
+                    // the no result case is handled later
+                }
+                // save the output
+                if (var_py != null && !var_py.toString().equals("<unbound>")) {
+                    dr.setOutput(new Output(var_py.toString()));
+                    var_py = null;
+                }
+                // try to get the global status variable from python
+                try {
+                    var_py = engine.get("status");
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    // catch this silently since we are just fishing
+                    // the no result case is handled later
+                    log.trace("No result found for python check variable variable status.");
+                }
+                // save the status
+                if (var_py != null && !var_py.toString().equals("<unbound>")) {
+                    dr.setStatus(Status.valueOf(var_py.toString()));
+                } else {
+                    // if we haven't found anything at this point it probably failed
+                    dr.setStatus(Status.FAILURE);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        // harvest all other vars for downstream dispatchers
+        bindings = engine.getBindings(ScriptContext.ENGINE_SCOPE);
+
+        return dr;
+
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Checks if the environment is supported by the ScriptEngine.
+     *
+     * @param env The environment string to check for compatibility.
+     * @return {@code true} if the specified environment is supportedScriptEngine
+     *         {@code false} otherwise.
+     */
+    public boolean isEnvSupported(String env) {
+        String currentEnv = engine.getFactory().getLanguageName();
+        log.debug("currentEnv=" + currentEnv);
+        return env.equalsIgnoreCase(currentEnv);
+    }
+
+    public void close() {
+        if (engine instanceof JepScriptEngine jepEngine) {
+            jepEngine.close();
+            log.debug("Closed Jep interpreter");
+        } else {
+            log.debug("Didn't close Jep interpreter");
+        }
+        instances = new HashMap<>(); // reset the static variable
+    }
+
+    protected Dispatcher() {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Register the Python scripting engine
+     *
+     * Otherwise the ScriptEngineFactory discovery mechanism will not find the
+     * python engine.
+     * 
+     * @param engineName The engine name.
+     */
+    private Dispatcher(String engineName) {
+
+        // Register the Python scripting engine,
+        if (engineName.equalsIgnoreCase("python")) {
+            JepScriptEngineFactory factory = new JepScriptEngineFactory();
+            manager.registerEngineName("python", factory);
+            // create a the engine:
+            engine = factory.getScriptEngine();
+        }
+
+        // check if the engine has loaded correctly:
+        if (engine == null) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(engineName + " Engine not found on the classpath.");
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the dispatcher for a given environment
+     * 
+     * @param env The environment name.
+     */
+
+    public static Dispatcher getDispatcher(String env) {
+
+        String engineName = null;
+        Dispatcher instance = null;
+        if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("r") || env.equalsIgnoreCase("rscript")) {
+            engineName = "r";
+        } else if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("renjin")) {
+            engineName = "Renjin";
+        } else if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("python")) {
+            engineName = "python";
+        } else if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("JavaScript")) {
+            engineName = "JavaScript";
+        } else if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("Java")) {
+            engineName = "Java";
+        }
+
+        if (!instances.containsKey(engineName)) {
+            synchronized (Dispatcher.class) {
+                if (!instances.containsKey(engineName)) {
+                    if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("Java")) {
+                        instance = new JavaDispatcher();
+                    } else if (env.equalsIgnoreCase("r") || env.equalsIgnoreCase("rscript")) {
+                        instance = new RDispatcher();
+                    } else {
+                        instance = new Dispatcher(engineName);
+                    }
+                    instance.engineName = engineName;
+                    instances.put(engineName, instance);
                 }
-			}
-		} else {
-			instance = instances.get(engineName);
-		}
+            }
+        } else {
+            instance = instances.get(engineName);
+        }
+
+        return instance;
+
+    }
+
+    public Map<String, Object> getBindings() {
+        return bindings;
+    }
+
+    public static void setupJep() throws MetadigException {
+        // first look for an env var (this is mostly for local testing)
+        String pythonFolder = System.getenv("JEP_LIBRARY_PATH");
+
+        // then look in mdq config
+        if (pythonFolder == null) {
+            try {
+                MDQconfig cfg = new MDQconfig();
+                pythonFolder = cfg.getString("jep.path");
+            } catch (ConfigurationException ce) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("Error reading metadig configuration, ConfigurationException: " + ce);
+            } catch (IOException io) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("Error reading metadig configuration, IOException: " + io);
+            }
+        }
 
-		return instance;
+        // define the jep library path
+        String jepPath = pythonFolder + "/libjep.jnilib";
 
-	}
+        if (!Files.exists(Path.of(jepPath))) {
+            jepPath = pythonFolder + "/libjep.so";
+        }
 
-	public Map<String, Object> getBindings() {
-		return bindings;
-	}
+        // set path for jep executing python
+        try {
+            MainInterpreter.setJepLibraryPath(jepPath);
+        } catch (JepException e) {
+            throw new MetadigException("Error configuring Jep: " + e);
+        }
 
-	public void setBindings(Map<String, Object> bindings) {
-		this.bindings = bindings;
-	}
-}
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/JepScriptEngine.java b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/JepScriptEngine.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7af16fc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/JepScriptEngine.java
@@ -0,0 +1,208 @@
+package edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.dispatch;
+
+import jep.SharedInterpreter;
+import jep.JepException;
+
+import java.io.Reader;
+
+import javax.script.Bindings;
+import javax.script.ScriptContext;
+import javax.script.ScriptEngine;
+import javax.script.ScriptEngineFactory;
+import javax.script.ScriptException;
+import javax.script.SimpleBindings;
+
+/**
+ * Implements {@link javax.script.ScriptEngine}
+ * 
+ */
+public class JepScriptEngine implements ScriptEngine {
+
+    private SharedInterpreter jepInterpreter = null;
+    private Bindings bindings = new SimpleBindings();
+    private Bindings globalBindings = new SimpleBindings();
+    private ScriptEngineFactory factory = null;
+
+    /**
+     * Create a JepScriptEngine
+     * 
+     * The JepScriptEngine initalizes a jep SharedInterpreter, and relevant
+     * ScriptEngine methods are called on the interpreter. Only relevant
+     * ScriptEngine methods are implemented, the rest will error if they
+     * are called. The interpreter is configured to find the jep path listed
+     * in metadig.properties as `jep.path` for production deployments. For testing
+     * on other machines, the configured path can be set using the environment
+     * variable JEP_LIBRARY_PATH.
+     * 
+     * @throws RuntimeException              for script or configuration errors
+     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException for methods not implemented
+     */
+    public JepScriptEngine() {
+
+        try {
+            // create the interpreter for python executing
+            jepInterpreter = new SharedInterpreter();
+        } catch (JepException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Error initializing Jep interpreter: " + e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Mapping of eval method for ScriptEngine to the jep SharedInterpreter
+     * 
+     * Instead of eval we actually implement exec, which allows us to run an
+     * arbitrary number of statments as opposed to just one. Note that exec returns
+     * void. To retrieve values from the python execution, `getValue` is required.
+     * 
+     * Since this method is designed to fit in with dispatch code running other
+     * engines that return values from eval, it cannot return null. Returning a
+     * boolean can make it look like code was executed and results available when
+     * they might not be, so a null-looking value is returned and handled in the
+     * dispatch code.
+     * 
+     * @param script The python script as a string
+     * 
+     * @throws RuntimeException If an error occurs during script execution.
+     * @see jep.SharedInterpreter#exec()
+     * 
+     */
+    @Override
+    public Object eval(String script) throws RuntimeException {
+        // Implement the evaluation logic using the jepInterpreter
+        try {
+            jepInterpreter.exec(script);
+            return "_NA_";
+        } catch (JepException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public void close() {
+        try {
+            jepInterpreter.close();
+        } catch (JepException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Retrieves a value associated with the specified key
+     *
+     * @param key The key representing the value to retrieve.
+     * @return The value associated with the key, if found.
+     * @throws RuntimeException If an error occurs during value retrieval.
+     * @see jep.SharedInterpreter#getValue(String)
+     */
+    @Override
+    public Object get(String key) {
+        try {
+            Object object = jepInterpreter.getValue(key);
+            return object;
+        } catch (JepException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Set a value associated with the specified key
+     *
+     * @param key   The key to set.
+     * @param value The value to assign to the key.
+     * @throws RuntimeException If an error occurs.
+     * @see jep.SharedInterpreter#set(String, Object)
+     */
+    @Override
+    public void put(String key, Object value) {
+        try {
+            jepInterpreter.set(key, value);
+        } catch (JepException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Set the script engine factory
+     *
+     * @param fact The script engine factory to assign
+     */
+    protected void setFactory(ScriptEngineFactory fact) {
+        this.factory = fact;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the script engine factory
+     *
+     */
+    @Override
+    public ScriptEngineFactory getFactory() {
+        if (this.factory == null)
+            this.factory = new JepScriptEngineFactory();
+        return this.factory;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get bindings
+     * 
+     * @param scope
+     * @return a Bindings value
+     */
+    @Override
+    public Bindings getBindings(int scope) {
+        if (scope == ScriptContext.ENGINE_SCOPE) {
+            return this.bindings;
+        }
+
+        return this.globalBindings;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void setBindings(Bindings bindings, int scope) {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
+                "setBindings(Bindings, int) not supported for the JepScriptEngine class");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Bindings createBindings() {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("createBindings() not supported for the JepScriptEngine class");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public ScriptContext getContext() {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("getContext() not supported for the JepScriptEngine class");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void setContext(ScriptContext context) {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
+                "setContext(ScriptContext) is not implemented for the JepScriptEngine class");
+    }
+
+    public Object eval(Reader reader, Bindings bindings) throws ScriptException {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
+                "eval(Reader, Bindings) is not implemented for the JepScriptEngine class");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Object eval(String script, Bindings bindings) throws ScriptException {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
+                "eval(String, Bindings) is not implemented for the JepScriptEngine class");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Object eval(Reader reader) throws ScriptException {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("eval(Reader) is not implemented for the JepScriptEngine class");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Object eval(Reader reader, ScriptContext context) throws ScriptException {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
+                "eval(Reader, ScriptContext) is not implemented for the JepScriptEngine class");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Object eval(String script, ScriptContext context) throws ScriptException {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
+                "eval(String, ScriptContext) is not implemented for the JepScriptEngine class");
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/JepScriptEngineFactory.java b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/JepScriptEngineFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..85fedc98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/JepScriptEngineFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+package edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.dispatch;
+
+import javax.script.ScriptEngine;
+import javax.script.ScriptEngineFactory;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+
+public class JepScriptEngineFactory implements ScriptEngineFactory {
+
+    private static List<String> names;
+
+    private static List<String> extensions;
+
+    private static List<String> mimeTypes;
+
+    static {
+        names = new ArrayList<>(1);
+        names.add("jep");
+        names = Collections.unmodifiableList(names);
+
+        extensions = new ArrayList<>(1);
+        extensions.add("py");
+        extensions = Collections.unmodifiableList(extensions);
+
+        mimeTypes = new ArrayList<>(0);
+        mimeTypes = Collections.unmodifiableList(mimeTypes);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getEngineName() {
+        return "jep";
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getEngineVersion() {
+        return "2.x";
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public List<String> getExtensions() {
+        return extensions;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getLanguageName() {
+        return "python";
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getLanguageVersion() {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
+                "getLanguageVersion is not implemented for the JepScriptEngineFactory class");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getMethodCallSyntax(String obj, String method, String... args) {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("getMethodCallSyntax is not implemented");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public List<String> getMimeTypes() {
+        return mimeTypes;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public List<String> getNames() {
+        return names;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getOutputStatement(String o) {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("getOutputStatement is not implemented");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Object getParameter(String p) {
+        if (p == null)
+            return null;
+
+        if (p.equals(ScriptEngine.ENGINE))
+            return getEngineName();
+
+        if (p.equals(ScriptEngine.ENGINE_VERSION))
+            return getEngineVersion();
+
+        if (p.equals(ScriptEngine.NAME))
+            return "jep";
+
+        if (p.equals(ScriptEngine.LANGUAGE))
+            return getLanguageName();
+
+        if (p.equals(ScriptEngine.LANGUAGE_VERSION))
+            return getLanguageVersion();
+
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getProgram(String... statements) {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
+                "getProgram is not implemented for the JepScriptEngineFactory class");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public ScriptEngine getScriptEngine() {
+
+        JepScriptEngine e = new JepScriptEngine();
+        e.setFactory(this);
+        return e;
+
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/processor/AwardLookupCheck.java b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/processor/AwardLookupCheck.java
index de243fd1..cb14f16f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/processor/AwardLookupCheck.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/processor/AwardLookupCheck.java
@@ -11,146 +11,119 @@
 
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.net.URL;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import net.minidev.json.parser.ParseException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
 
 /**
  * Looks up award information for given award number
+ * 
  * @author leinfelder
  *
  */
 public class AwardLookupCheck implements Callable<Result> {
-	
-	private static String apiUrl = "https://api.nsf.gov/services/v1/awards.json"
-			+ "?printFields="
-			+ "id,"
-			+ "title,"
-			+ "agency,"
-			+ "fundProgramName,"
-			+ "primaryProgram"
-			+ "&id=";
-		
-	// the award identifier[s]
-	private Object awards;
-	
-	public Log log = LogFactory.getLog(this.getClass());
-	
-	@Override
-	public Result call() {
-		Result result = new Result();
-		List<Output> outputs = new ArrayList<Output>();
-		URL url = null;
-		
-		if (this.awards != null) {
-			result.setStatus(Status.SUCCESS);
-
-			List<Object> awardList = new ArrayList<Object>();
-			if (awards instanceof List) {
-				awardList = (List<Object>) awards;
-			} else {
-				awardList.add(awards.toString());
-			}
-			
-			for (Object awardId: awardList) {
-				
-				try {
-					
-					// fetch the results, extracting just the award number, if other info is in the string.
-					String idString = awardId.toString().toLowerCase().replace("nsf award", "").trim();
-
-					// Pad the award number with leading zeros if necessary
-					if (awardId instanceof Number) {
-						idString = String.format("%07d", awardId);
-					}
-					url = new URL(apiUrl + idString);
-					log.debug("URL=" + url.toString());
-
-					InputStream jsonStream = url.openStream();
-					
-					// parse
-					JSONParser parser = new JSONParser(JSONParser.DEFAULT_PERMISSIVE_MODE);
-					String apiRetStr= parser.parse(jsonStream).toString();
-					log.debug("String returned from Award API: " + apiRetStr);
-					JSONObject json = (JSONObject) parser.parse(apiRetStr);
-
-					if (json == null) {
-						log.warn("No award information found for " + idString);
-						continue;
-					}
-					
-					log.debug("JSON=" + json.toJSONString());
-
-					JSONObject jsonResponse = (JSONObject) json.get("response");
-					JSONArray jsonAwards = (JSONArray) jsonResponse.get("award");
-					if (jsonAwards == null || jsonAwards.size() < 1) {
-						log.warn("No award information found for " + idString);
-						continue;
-					}
-					JSONObject jsonAward = (JSONObject) jsonAwards.get(0);
-				
-					// find the desired information about the award
-					String title = (String) jsonAward.get("title");
-					String agency = (String) jsonAward.get("agency");
-					String id = (String) jsonAward.get("id");
-					String fundProgramName = (String) jsonAward.get("fundProgramName");
-					String primaryProgram = (String) jsonAward.get("primaryProgram");
-					
-					// add them all as outputs for search and grouping
-					outputs.add(new Output(title + " (" + agency + " " + id + ")"));
-					outputs.add(new Output(title));
-					outputs.add(new Output(agency));
-					outputs.add(new Output(id));
-					outputs.add(new Output(fundProgramName));
-					outputs.add(new Output(primaryProgram));
-					
-					// look up cross ref info as well
-					outputs.addAll(this.lookupCrossRef(id));
-
-				} catch (Exception e) {
-					log.error("Could not look up award " + awardId + " at URL " + url.toString() + ": ", e);
-					continue;
-				}
-			}
-			
-			// set them all
-			result.setOutput(outputs);
-			
-		} else {
-			result.setStatus(Status.FAILURE);
-			result.setOutput(new Output("NA"));
-			log.warn("No award id given, cannot look-up funding");
-		}
-		
-		return result;
-		
-	}
-	
-	// TODO: implement this in a way that makes sense
-	private List<Output> lookupCrossRef(String awardId) {
-		
-		List<Output> outputs = new ArrayList<Output>();
-
-		// find the funder using a work with this awardId
-		// TODO: I don't think this is the best way to get at funder info
-		String worksUrl = "http://api.crossref.org/works?rows=1&filter=award.number:" + awardId;
-
-		// message.items[0].funder[x].DOI
-		String funderDOI = null;
-		String funderId = null; //funderDOI.substring(funderDOI.lastIndexOf("/"));
-		
-		// find the org hierarchy for the funder
-		String funderUrl = "http://api.crossref.org/funders/" + funderId;
-
-		return outputs;
-	}
-
-	public Object getAwards() {
-		return awards;
-	}
-
-	public void setAwards(Object awards) {
-		this.awards = awards;
-	}
-	
+
+    private static String apiUrl = "https://arcticdata.io/research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards.json"
+            + "?printFields="
+            + "id,"
+            + "title,"
+            + "agency,"
+            + "fundProgramName,"
+            + "primaryProgram"
+            + "&id=";
+
+    // the award identifier[s]
+    private Object awards;
+
+    public Log log = LogFactory.getLog(this.getClass());
+
+    @Override
+    public Result call() {
+        Result result = new Result();
+        List<Output> outputs = new ArrayList<Output>();
+        URL url = null;
+
+        if (this.awards != null) {
+            result.setStatus(Status.SUCCESS);
+
+            List<Object> awardList = new ArrayList<Object>();
+            if (awards instanceof List) {
+                awardList = (List<Object>) awards;
+            } else {
+                awardList.add(awards.toString());
+            }
+
+            for (Object awardId : awardList) {
+                try {
+                    String idString = awardId.toString().toLowerCase().replace("nsf award", "").trim();
+
+                    if (awardId instanceof Number) {
+                        idString = String.format("%07d", awardId);
+                    }
+
+                    url = new URL(apiUrl + idString);
+                    log.debug("URL=" + url.toString());
+
+                    InputStream jsonStream = url.openStream();
+
+                    // parse the JSON array directly
+                    JSONParser parser = new JSONParser(JSONParser.DEFAULT_PERMISSIVE_MODE);
+                    JSONObject json = (JSONObject) parser.parse(jsonStream);
+
+                    JSONObject jsonResponse = (JSONObject) json.get("response");
+                    JSONArray jsonAwards = (JSONArray) jsonResponse.get("award");
+
+                    if (jsonAwards == null || jsonAwards.size() < 1) {
+                        log.warn("No award information found for " + idString);
+                        continue;
+                    }
+
+                    // Process each award in the JSON array
+
+                    JSONObject jsonAward = (JSONObject) jsonAwards.get(0);
+
+                    // Extract desired information about the award
+                    String title = (String) jsonAward.get("title");
+                    String agency = (String) jsonAward.get("agency");
+                    String id = (String) jsonAward.get("id");
+                    String fundProgramName = (String) jsonAward.get("fundProgramName");
+                    JSONArray program = (JSONArray) jsonAward.get("primaryProgram");
+                    String primaryProgram = (String) program.get(0);
+
+                    // Add them all as outputs for search and grouping
+                    outputs.add(new Output(title + " (" + agency + " " + id + ")"));
+                    outputs.add(new Output(title));
+                    outputs.add(new Output(agency));
+                    outputs.add(new Output(id));
+                    outputs.add(new Output(fundProgramName));
+                    outputs.add(new Output(primaryProgram));
+
+                } catch (MalformedURLException me) {
+                    log.error("Could not look up award " + awardId + " at URL " + url.toString()
+                            + "malformed URL exception");
+                    log.error(me.getMessage());
+                } catch (IOException ioe) {
+                    log.error("Could not look up award " + awardId + " at URL " + url.toString() + "IO exception");
+                    log.error(ioe.getMessage());
+                } catch (ParseException pe) {
+                    log.error("Could not look up award " + awardId + " at URL " + url.toString() + "parse exception");
+                    log.error(pe.getMessage());
+                }
+            }
+
+            // set them all
+            result.setOutput(outputs);
+
+        } else {
+            result.setStatus(Status.FAILURE);
+            result.setOutput(new Output("NA"));
+            log.warn("No award id given, cannot look-up funding");
+        }
+
+        return result;
+
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/processor/XMLDialect.java b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/processor/XMLDialect.java
index 82f6b09a..7d742cc9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/processor/XMLDialect.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/processor/XMLDialect.java
@@ -38,63 +38,62 @@
 import java.util.*;
 
 public class XMLDialect {
-	
+
 	private Document document;
-	
+
 	private Document nsAwareDocument;
-	
+
 	private SystemMetadata systemMetadata;
 
 	private XPathFactory xPathfactory;
-	
+
 	private Map<String, Object> params;
-		
-	private Map<String,Namespace> namespaces = new HashMap<String, Namespace>();
-	
+
+	private Map<String, Namespace> namespaces = new HashMap<String, Namespace>();
+
 	private String directory;
-	
+
 	private Dispatcher dispatcher;
-	
+
 	public static Log log = LogFactory.getLog(XMLDialect.class);
-	
+
 	public XMLDialect(InputStream input) throws SAXException, IOException, ParserConfigurationException {
 		DocumentBuilderFactory factory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
 		factory.setNamespaceAware(false);
 		DocumentBuilder builder = factory.newDocumentBuilder();
-		
+
 		DocumentBuilderFactory nsFactory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
 		nsFactory.setNamespaceAware(true);
 		DocumentBuilder nsBuilder = nsFactory.newDocumentBuilder();
-		
+
 		byte[] bytes = IOUtils.toByteArray(input);
-		
+
 		document = builder.parse(new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes));
 		nsAwareDocument = nsBuilder.parse(new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes));
 
 		// please let garbage collection take this space back
 		bytes = null;
-		
+
 		xPathfactory = XPathFactory.newInstance();
-		
+
 		// now we can extract the namespaces from the source document
 		this.extractNamespaces();
 
 	}
-	
+
 	private void extractNamespaces() {
 		XPath xpath = xPathfactory.newXPath();
 		NodeList nodes = null;
 		try {
-			//String selectorPath = "//*[namespace-uri()]/concat(substring-before(name(), ':'),':',namespace-uri())";
 			String selectorPath = "//*[namespace-uri()]";
 
-			nodes = (NodeList) xpath.evaluate(selectorPath , this.nsAwareDocument, XPathConstants.NODESET);
+			nodes = (NodeList) xpath.evaluate(selectorPath, this.nsAwareDocument, XPathConstants.NODESET);
 			if (nodes != null && nodes.getLength() > 0) {
-				for (int i = 0; i <nodes.getLength(); i++) {
+				for (int i = 0; i < nodes.getLength(); i++) {
 					Node node = nodes.item(i);
 					String uri = node.getNamespaceURI();
 					String prefix = node.getPrefix();
-					
+
 					Namespace ns = new Namespace();
 					ns.setPrefix(prefix);
 					ns.setUri(uri);
@@ -107,47 +106,52 @@ private void extractNamespaces() {
 			log.error("Could not extract the namespaces from document", e);
 		}
 	}
-	
+
 	// include additional namespaces
 	public void mergeNamespaces(List<Namespace> namespaces) {
 		if (namespaces != null) {
-			for (Namespace namespace: namespaces) {
+			for (Namespace namespace : namespaces) {
 				this.namespaces.put(namespace.getPrefix(), namespace);
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	
+
 	public Result runCheck(Check check) throws XPathExpressionException {
-		
+
 		Result result = null;
-		
+
 		log.debug("Running Check: " + check.getId());
-		
+
 		// only bother dispatching if check can be applied to this document
 		if (this.isCheckValid(check)) {
-		
+
 			// gather the variable name/value details
 			Map<String, Object> variables = new HashMap<String, Object>();
 			if (check.getSelector() != null) {
-				for (Selector selector: check.getSelector()) {
-					
+				for (Selector selector : check.getSelector()) {
+
 					Document docToUse = document;
 					if (selector.isNamespaceAware()) {
 						docToUse = nsAwareDocument;
 					}
-					
+
 					String name = selector.getName();
 					Object value = this.selectPath(selector, docToUse);
-					
+
 					// make available in script
 					variables.put(name, value);
 				}
 			}
-			
+
 			// make the entire dom available
 			// TODO: string seems like only viable option for all env
 			variables.put("document", toXmlString(document));
 
+			// reset the global values to null
+			// this prevents the next check from accidentally inheriting results
+			variables.put("status", null);
+			variables.put("output", null);
+
 			// include system metadata if available
 			if (this.systemMetadata != null) {
 				try {
@@ -167,44 +171,46 @@ public Result runCheck(Check check) throws XPathExpressionException {
 					log.error("Could not serialize SystemMetadata for check", e);
 				}
 			}
-						
+
 			// make extra parameters available to the check if we have them
 			if (this.params != null) {
 				variables.put("mdq_params", params);
 			}
-			
+
 			// give the check a place to write files during the run
 			if (this.directory != null) {
 				variables.put("tempDir", directory);
 			}
-			
+
 			// dispatch to checker impl
 			if (!check.isInheritState() || dispatcher == null) {
-				// create a fresh dispatcher 
+				// create a fresh dispatcher
 				dispatcher = Dispatcher.getDispatcher(check.getEnvironment());
 				log.debug("Creating initial check dispatcher for " + check.getEnvironment());
 			} else {
 
 				// ensure that we can reuse the dispatcher to inherit previous state
 				if (!dispatcher.isEnvSupported(check.getEnvironment())) {
-					
+
 					// use the bindings from previous dispatcher
 					Map<String, Object> bindings = dispatcher.getBindings();
 					if (bindings == null) {
 						// nothing to inherit
 						result = new Result();
 						result.setStatus(Status.ERROR);
-						result.setOutput(new Output("Check cannot use persistent state from previous differing environment"));
+						result.setOutput(
+								new Output("Check cannot use persistent state from previous differing environment"));
 						return result;
 					} else {
-						
+
 						// use the bindings from previous dispatcher
-						for (String key: bindings.keySet()) {
+						for (String key : bindings.keySet()) {
 							Object value = bindings.get(key);
 							value = retypeObject(value.toString());
 							log.trace("binding: " + key + "=" + value);
 							variables.put(key, value);
 						}
+
 						log.debug("Binding existing variables for new dispatcher");
 
 						// and a fresh dispatcher
@@ -216,15 +222,15 @@ public Result runCheck(Check check) throws XPathExpressionException {
 
 				}
 			}
-			
+
 			// assemble the code to run
 			String code = check.getCode();
-			
+
 			// gather extra code from external resources
 			List<URL> libraries = check.getLibrary();
 			if (libraries != null) {
 				String libraryContent = "";
-				for (URL library: libraries) {
+				for (URL library : libraries) {
 					// TODO: loading random code from a URL is very risky!
 					log.debug("Loading library code from URL: " + library);
 					// read the library from given URL
@@ -241,7 +247,7 @@ public Result runCheck(Check check) throws XPathExpressionException {
 				// combine libraries and code
 				code = libraryContent + code;
 			}
-			
+
 			try {
 				result = dispatcher.dispatch(variables, code);
 			} catch (ScriptException e) {
@@ -250,33 +256,33 @@ public Result runCheck(Check check) throws XPathExpressionException {
 				result.setStatus(Status.ERROR);
 				result.setOutput(new Output(e.getMessage()));
 			}
-	
+
 		} else {
 			// we just skip instead
 			result = new Result();
 			result.setStatus(Status.SKIP);
 			result.setOutput(new Output("Dialect for this check is not supported"));
 		}
-		
+
 		// set additional info before returning
 		result.setCheck(check);
 		result.setTimestamp(Calendar.getInstance().getTime());
-		
+
 		// do any further processing on the result (e.g., encode value if needed)
 		result = postProcess(result);
-		
+
 		return result;
 	}
-	
+
 	private Result postProcess(Result result) {
 		// Return the result as-is if there are no outputs to post-process
 		if (result.getOutput() == null) {
 			log.debug("Skipping postProcess step because this result's output is null.");
-			return(result);
+			return (result);
 		}
 
 		// Post-process each output (if needed)
-		for (Output output: result.getOutput()) {
+		for (Output output : result.getOutput()) {
 			if (output == null) {
 				log.debug("Output was null.");
 				continue;
@@ -291,26 +297,28 @@ private Result postProcess(Result result) {
 					// NOPE
 					return result;
 				}
-				
+
 				if (path.toFile().exists()) {
 					// encode it
 					String encoded = null;
 					try {
 						encoded = Base64.encodeBase64String(IOUtils.toByteArray(path.toUri()));
 						output.setValue(encoded);
-						//TODO: set mime-type when we have support for that, or assume they did it already?
+						// TODO: set mime-type when we have support for that, or assume they did it
+						// already?
 					} catch (IOException e) {
 						log.error(e.getMessage());
-					}				
-				}		
+					}
+				}
 			}
 		}
-		
+
 		return result;
 	}
-	
+
 	/**
 	 * Determine if the check is valid for the document
+	 * 
 	 * @param check
 	 * @return
 	 * @throws XPathExpressionException
@@ -321,16 +329,16 @@ public boolean isCheckValid(Check check) throws XPathExpressionException {
 			log.debug("No dialects have been specified for check, assuming it is valid for this document");
 			return true;
 		}
-		
+
 		XPath xpath = xPathfactory.newXPath();
 
-		for (Dialect dialect: check.getDialect()) {
-			
+		for (Dialect dialect : check.getDialect()) {
+
 			String name = dialect.getName();
 			String expression = dialect.getXpath();
 			log.debug("Dialect name: " + name + ", expression: " + expression);
 			String value = xpath.evaluate(expression, document);
-			
+
 			if (Boolean.valueOf(value)) {
 				log.debug("Dialect " + name + " is valid for document ");
 				return true;
@@ -338,23 +346,25 @@ public boolean isCheckValid(Check check) throws XPathExpressionException {
 				log.debug("Dialect " + name + " is NOT valid for document");
 			}
 		}
-		
+
 		log.info("No supported check dialects found for this document");
 
 		return false;
 	}
-	
+
 	private Object selectPath(Selector selector, Node contextNode) throws XPathExpressionException {
-		
+
 		Object value = null;
-		
+
 		// select one or more values from document
 		String selectorPath = selector.getXpath();
+
 		XPath xpath = xPathfactory.newXPath();
-		
-		// combine the found namespaces and any additional ones asserted by selector. order matters here
+
+		// combine the found namespaces and any additional ones asserted by selector.
+		// order matters here
 		List<Namespace> selectorNamespaces = new ArrayList<Namespace>();
-		
+
 		if (this.namespaces.values() != null) {
 			selectorNamespaces.addAll(this.namespaces.values());
 		}
@@ -370,9 +380,11 @@ private Object selectPath(Selector selector, Node contextNode) throws XPathExpre
 				Namespace entry = nsIter.next();
 				String prefix = entry.getPrefix();
 				String uri = entry.getUri();
-                // Some metadata files may have improper xmlns declarations that don't include
+				// Some metadata files may have improper xmlns declarations that don't include
 				// a prefix (encountered in Dryad Data), so skip these.
-				if(prefix == null) continue;
+				if (prefix == null){
+					continue;
+				}
 
 				// make sure we are overriding the found namespace[s] with the asserted ones
 				String existing = nsContext.getNamespaceURI(prefix);
@@ -381,28 +393,27 @@ private Object selectPath(Selector selector, Node contextNode) throws XPathExpre
 				}
 				nsContext.bindNamespaceUri(prefix, uri);
 			}
-			xpath.setNamespaceContext(nsContext);	
+			xpath.setNamespaceContext(nsContext);
 		}
-		
-		
+
 		// try multiple first
 		NodeList nodes = null;
 		try {
 			nodes = (NodeList) xpath.evaluate(selectorPath, contextNode, XPathConstants.NODESET);
 
 			if (nodes != null && nodes.getLength() == 1 && selector.getSubSelector() == null) {
-				
+
 				// just return single value, as a String
 				value = nodes.item(0).getTextContent();
 				value = retypeObject(value);
-				
+
 			}
-			
+
 			else if (nodes.getLength() > 0 || selector.getSubSelector() != null) {
-				
+
 				// multiple values
 				List<Object> values = new ArrayList<Object>();
-				
+
 				for (int i = 0; i < nodes.getLength(); i++) {
 					Node node = nodes.item(i);
 					// is there a subselector?
@@ -420,42 +431,51 @@ else if (nodes.getLength() > 0 || selector.getSubSelector() != null) {
 				}
 				// return the list
 				value = values;
-			}  
+			}
 		} catch (XPathExpressionException xpee) {
 			log.debug("Defaulting to single value selection: " + xpee.getCause().getMessage());
-			
+
 			// try just a single value
 			try {
 				value = xpath.evaluate(selectorPath, contextNode);
 				value = retypeObject(value);
 			} catch (XPathExpressionException xpee2) {
-				log.error("Selector '" + selector.getName() + "'" + " could not select single value with given Xpath: " + xpee2.getCause().getMessage());
+				log.error("Selector '" + selector.getName() + "'" + " could not select single value with given Xpath: "
+						+ xpee2.getCause().getMessage());
 				value = null;
 			}
 		}
-		
+
 		return value;
-	
+
 	}
-	/* Retype an object based on a few simple assumptions. A "String" value is
-	 * typically passed in. If only numeric characters are present in the String, then
-	 * the object is caste to type "Number". If the string value appears to be an
-	 * "affermative" or "negative" value (e.g. "Y", "Yes", "N", "No", ...) then the
-	 * value is caste to "Boolean".
+
+	/*
+	 * Retype an object based on a few simple assumptions. A "String" value is
+	 * typically passed in. If only numeric characters are present in the String,
+	 * then the object is caste to type "Number". If the string value appears to
+	 * be an "affirmative" or "negative" value (e.g. "Y", "Yes", "N", "No", ...)
+	 * then the value is caste to "Boolean".
 	 */
 	public static Object retypeObject(Object value) {
 		Object result = value;
-		// type the value correctly
-		if (NumberUtils.isNumber((String)value)) {
-			result = NumberUtils.createNumber((String)value);
-		} else {
-			// relies on this method to return null if we are not sure if it is a boolean
-			Boolean bool = BooleanUtils.toBooleanObject((String)value);
-			if (bool != null) {
-				result = bool;
+
+		if (value instanceof String stringValue) {
+			// try to type the value correctly
+			if (NumberUtils.isNumber(stringValue) && !stringValue.matches("^0\\d*$")) {
+				// If it's a valid number and doesn't start with zeros, create a Number object
+				result = NumberUtils.createNumber(stringValue);
+			} else {
+				// try to convert to bool
+				Boolean bool = BooleanUtils.toBooleanObject((String) value);
+				// if it worked, return the boolean, otherwise the original result is returned
+				if (bool != null) {
+					result = bool;
+				}
 			}
+
 		}
-		
+
 		return result;
 	}
 
@@ -466,11 +486,11 @@ public Map<String, Object> getParams() {
 	public void setParams(Map<String, Object> params) {
 		this.params = params;
 	}
-	
+
 	public void setDirectory(String dir) {
-		this .directory = dir;
+		this.directory = dir;
 	}
-	
+
 	public SystemMetadata getSystemMetadata() {
 		return systemMetadata;
 	}
@@ -481,14 +501,14 @@ public void setSystemMetadata(SystemMetadata systemMetadata) {
 
 	private String toXmlString(Document document) {
 		try {
-		    Transformer transformer = TransformerFactory.newInstance().newTransformer();
-		    StreamResult result = new StreamResult(new StringWriter());
-		    DOMSource source = new DOMSource(document);
-		    transformer.transform(source, result);
-		    return result.getWriter().toString();
-		} catch(TransformerException ex) {
-		    ex.printStackTrace();
-		    return null;
+			Transformer transformer = TransformerFactory.newInstance().newTransformer();
+			StreamResult result = new StreamResult(new StringWriter());
+			DOMSource source = new DOMSource(document);
+			transformer.transform(source, result);
+			return result.getWriter().toString();
+		} catch (TransformerException ex) {
+			log.error("Error transforming to XML string. " + ex.getMessage());
+			return null;
 		}
 
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/solr/SolrIndex.java b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/solr/SolrIndex.java
index c305edaa..cbb76fee 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/solr/SolrIndex.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/solr/SolrIndex.java
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@
 import org.dataone.service.types.v1.Identifier;
 import org.dataone.service.types.v2.SystemMetadata;
 import org.dataone.service.util.TypeMarshaller;
-import org.python.core.buffer.Strided1DBuffer;
 import org.w3c.dom.Document;
 import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/PythonDispatcherTest.java b/src/test/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/PythonDispatcherTest.java
index 400bd53b..ed6e2617 100644
--- a/src/test/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/PythonDispatcherTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/edu/ucsb/nceas/mdqengine/dispatch/PythonDispatcherTest.java
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
+import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.exception.MetadigException;
+
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -13,6 +15,7 @@
 import org.apache.commons.codec.digest.DigestUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
 import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.model.Result;
@@ -20,26 +23,35 @@
 import edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.processor.XMLDialect;
 
 public class PythonDispatcherTest {
-	
+
 	private Dispatcher dispatcher = null;
-	
+
 	private String dataUrl = "https://knb.ecoinformatics.org/knb/d1/mn/v2/object/doi:10.5063/AA/wolkovich.29.1";
 
+	@BeforeClass
+	public static void setupOnce() {
+		try {
+			Dispatcher.setupJep();
+		} catch (MetadigException me){
+			fail("Setup failed with MetadigException: " + me.getMessage());
+		}
+	}
+
 	@Before
-	public void init() {
+	public void init(){
 		dispatcher = Dispatcher.getDispatcher("python");
 	}
-	
+
 	@Test
 	public void testTypes() {
 		Map<String, Object> names = new HashMap<String, Object>();
-		
+
 		names.put("myInt", XMLDialect.retypeObject("2"));
 		names.put("myFloat", XMLDialect.retypeObject("1.5"));
 		names.put("myBool", XMLDialect.retypeObject("true"));
 		names.put("myStr", XMLDialect.retypeObject("hello"));
 
-		String code = "(type(myInt) is int) and (type(myFloat) is float) and (type(myBool) is bool)";
+		String code = "output = (type(myInt) is int) and (type(myFloat) is float) and (type(myBool) is bool)";
 		Result result = null;
 		try {
 			result = dispatcher.dispatch(names, code);
@@ -50,21 +62,20 @@ public void testTypes() {
 		}
 		assertEquals("true", result.getOutput().get(0).getValue());
 	}
-	
+
 	@Test
 	public void testResult() {
 		Map<String, Object> names = new HashMap<String, Object>();
 		names.put("x", 2);
 		names.put("y", 2);
 		String code = "def call(): \n"
-				+ "  from edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.model import Result \n"
-				+ "  from edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.model import Output \n"
-				+ "  mdq_result = Result() \n"
-				+ "  mdq_result.setOutput(Output(\"Testing the result object, X equals Y\")) \n"
-				+ "  from edu.ucsb.nceas.mdqengine.model import Status \n"
-				+ "  mdq_result.setStatus(Status.SUCCESS) \n"
-				+ "  return (mdq_result) \n"
-				;
+				+ "  global status \n"
+				+ "  global result \n"
+				+ "  result = x == y \n"
+				+ "  if (result == True):\n"
+				+ "    status = 'SUCCESS' \n"
+				+ "  else:\n"
+				+ "    status = 'FAILURE'";
 		Result result = null;
 		try {
 			result = dispatcher.dispatch(names, code);
@@ -75,7 +86,7 @@ public void testResult() {
 		}
 		assertEquals(Status.SUCCESS, result.getStatus());
 	}
-	
+
 	@Test
 	public void testEquality() {
 		Map<String, Object> names = new HashMap<String, Object>();
@@ -92,14 +103,14 @@ public void testEquality() {
 		}
 		assertEquals("true", result.getOutput().get(0).getValue());
 	}
-	
+
 	@Test
 	public void testMethodReturn() {
 		Map<String, Object> names = new HashMap<String, Object>();
 		names.put("x", 2);
 		names.put("y", 2);
-		String code = 
-				//"def call(a,b):    return (a == b)\n\n";
+		String code =
+				// "def call(a,b): return (a == b)\n\n";
 				"def call():    return (x == y)\n\n";
 		Result result = null;
 		try {
@@ -111,12 +122,12 @@ public void testMethodReturn() {
 		}
 		assertEquals("true", result.getOutput().get(0).getValue());
 	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testNullArg() {
 		Map<String, Object> names = new HashMap<String, Object>();
 		names.put("x", null);
-		String code = 
-				"def call():    return (x == None)\n\n";
+		String code = "def call():    return (x == None)\n\n";
 		Result result = null;
 		try {
 			result = dispatcher.dispatch(names, code);
@@ -127,20 +138,19 @@ public void testNullArg() {
 		}
 		assertEquals("true", result.getOutput().get(0).getValue());
 	}
-	
+
 	@Test
 	public void testCache() {
 		Map<String, Object> names = new HashMap<String, Object>();
 		names.put("x", 2);
 		names.put("y", 2);
 		InputStream library = this.getClass().getResourceAsStream("/code/mdq-cache.py");
-		
-		String code = 
-				"def call(): \n"
+
+		String code = "def call(): \n"
 				+ "  return get('" + dataUrl + "') \n";
-		
+
 		Result result = null;
-		try {		
+		try {
 			code = IOUtils.toString(library, "UTF-8") + code;
 			result = dispatcher.dispatch(names, code);
 		} catch (Exception e) {