diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 2b20173..3f72ec0 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ classifiers = [
 ]
 dependencies = [
     "aiohttp",
+    "dask",
+    "dask-jobqueue",
     "importlib_metadata <5.0.0",
     "importlib-resources",
     "intake",
diff --git a/src/esnb/__init__.py b/src/esnb/__init__.py
index 54bed02..e7f5981 100644
--- a/src/esnb/__init__.py
+++ b/src/esnb/__init__.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from .core.esnb_datastore import esnb_datastore
 from .core.NotebookDiagnostic import NotebookDiagnostic
 from .core.RequestedVariable import RequestedVariable
+from .core.util_dask import init_dask_cluster
 
 __all__ = [
     "core",
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@
     "esnb_datastore",
     "NotebookDiagnostic",
     "RequestedVariable",
+    "init_dask_cluster",
     "nbtools",
 ]
 
diff --git a/src/esnb/core/__init__.py b/src/esnb/core/__init__.py
index 96bf9a3..1a8f0d4 100644
--- a/src/esnb/core/__init__.py
+++ b/src/esnb/core/__init__.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     util,
     util2,
     util_catalog,
+    util_dask,
     util_mdtf,
     util_xr,
 )
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@
     "util",
     "util2",
     "util_case",
+    "util_dask",
     "util_catalog",
     "util_mdtf",
     "util_xr",
diff --git a/src/esnb/core/util_dask.py b/src/esnb/core/util_dask.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f1c25ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/esnb/core/util_dask.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import inspect
+import logging
+import os
+
+from dask.distributed import Client, LocalCluster
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def _local_cluster(**kwargs):
+    sig = inspect.signature(LocalCluster)
+    params = sig.parameters
+    valid_args = [name for name, param in params.items()]
+
+    ignored_args = []
+    for k, v in kwargs.items():
+        if k not in valid_args:
+            ignored_args.append(k)
+
+    if len(ignored_args) > 0:
+        for x in ignored_args:
+            del kwargs[x]
+        logger.warning(f"Ignoring options for LocalCluster: {ignored_args}")
+
+    cluster = LocalCluster(**kwargs)
+    client = Client(cluster)
+    logger.info(f"Initializing local dask cluster: {cluster.dashboard_link}")
+    return (cluster, client)
+
+
+def init_dask_cluster(site="local", **kwargs):
+    if "portdash" in kwargs.keys():
+        kwargs["dashboard_address"] = f":{kwargs['portdash']}"
+        del kwargs["portdash"]
+
+    if site == "local":
+        cluster, client = _local_cluster(**kwargs)
+    elif site == "gfdl_ppan":
+        from esnb.sites.gfdl import dask_cluster_ppan
+
+        cluster, client = dask_cluster_ppan(**kwargs)
+
+        if cluster is None:
+            logger.warning("An error occured; Falling back to dask LocalCluster")
+            cluster, client = _local_cluster(**kwargs)
+
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(f"Unrecognized Dask Site: {site}")
+
+    return (cluster, client)
+
+
+def init_dask_cluster_test(**kwargs):
+    options = {
+        "site": "gfdl_ppan",
+        "walltime": "24:00:00",
+        "highmem": True,
+        "memory": "48GB",
+        "portdash": os.getuid() + 6047,
+    }
+
+    options = {**options, **kwargs}
+
+    return init_dask_cluster(**options)
diff --git a/src/esnb/sites/gfdl.py b/src/esnb/sites/gfdl.py
index 61ed2c5..ff883f0 100644
--- a/src/esnb/sites/gfdl.py
+++ b/src/esnb/sites/gfdl.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 and loading DORA catalogs via the esnb_datastore interface.
 """
 
+import getpass
 import logging
 import os
 import shutil
@@ -15,6 +16,8 @@
 import intake
 import pandas as pd
 import requests
+from dask.distributed import Client
+from dask_jobqueue import SLURMCluster
 
 from esnb.core.esnb_datastore import esnb_datastore
 
@@ -39,6 +42,85 @@
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+def default_slurm_account(user=None):
+    user = getpass.getuser() if user is None else str(user)
+    cmd = ["sacctmgr", "show", "user", user, "format=defaultaccount", "-nP"]
+    default_account = subprocess.check_output(cmd, text=True).strip()
+    return default_account
+
+
+def dask_cluster_ppan(highmem=False, **kwargs):
+    if "account" not in kwargs.keys():
+        default_account = default_slurm_account()
+        logger.info(f"Setting SLURM account to {default_account}")
+        kwargs["account"] = default_account
+
+    if "dashboard_address" in kwargs.keys():
+        kwargs["scheduler_options"] = {"dashboard_address": kwargs["dashboard_address"]}
+        del kwargs["dashboard_address"]
+
+    if "jobs" in kwargs.keys():
+        jobs = kwargs["jobs"]
+        del kwargs["jobs"]
+    else:
+        jobs = None
+
+    if "wait" in kwargs.keys():
+        wait = kwargs["wait"]
+        del kwargs["wait"]
+    else:
+        wait = True
+
+    options = {
+        "queue": "batch",
+        "cores": 8,
+        "processes": 2,
+        "walltime": "01:00:00",
+        "local_directory": "$TMPDIR",
+        "death_timeout": 120,
+        "job_name": "esnb-dask",
+        "memory": "16GB",
+    }
+
+    if highmem:
+        options["job_extra_directives"] = ["--exclude=pp[008-010],pp[013-075]"]
+
+    options = {**options, **kwargs}
+
+    try:
+        cluster = SLURMCluster(**options)
+        client = Client(cluster)
+        logger.info(
+            f"Successfully started SLURM dask cluster: {cluster.dashboard_link}"
+        )
+
+    except Exception as exc:
+        logger.warning(f"Unable to start SLURMCluster: {exc}")
+        cluster = None
+        client = None
+
+    if (cluster is not None) and (jobs is not None):
+        try:
+            cluster.scale(jobs=int(jobs))
+            logger.info(f"Scaling SLURM dask cluster to {jobs} jobs.")
+
+            if wait:
+                logger.info("Waiting for a worker to come online ...")
+                client.wait_for_workers(n_workers=1)
+
+        except Exception as exc:
+            logger.warning(f"Unable to scale the SLURM cluster: {exc}")
+            cluster.close()
+
+            if client is not None:
+                client.close()
+
+            cluster = None
+            client = None
+
+    return (cluster, client)
+
+
 def generate_gfdl_intake_catalog(pathpp, fre_cli=None):
     logger.info(f"Generating intake catalog for: {pathpp}")
     current_dir = os.getcwd()