diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_environment.yml b/.github/workflows/build_environment.yml
index 5232db7..7bb7e2a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_environment.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_environment.yml
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ jobs:
         run: bash install_step0_conda.sh
       - name: install R dependencies
         run: bash install_step1_R.sh
+      - name: install python dependencies
+        run: bash install_step2_pip.sh
       - name: run_test
         run: bash run_minimal_test.sh
       - name: List full installation of the conda environment
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e90b739..8ca9dd8 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
 .pre-commit-config.yaml
+random-functions
+rgcvpack
diff --git a/create_environment.sh b/create_environment.sh
index a2549ca..0f42238 100644
--- a/create_environment.sh
+++ b/create_environment.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 bash install_step0_conda.sh
 bash install_step1_R.sh
+bash install_step2_pip.sh
diff --git a/install_step2_pip.sh b/install_step2_pip.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c356e0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/install_step2_pip.sh
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+pip install netcdf4 h5netcdf xarray numpy dask pandas pyyaml ruamel.yaml