diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
index ed2ac63e..23cea9e1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         with:
-          python-version: "3.11"
+          python-version: "3.13"
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: |
           python --version
diff --git a/.readthedocs.yaml b/.readthedocs.yaml
index 3802b505..e2af5c42 100644
--- a/.readthedocs.yaml
+++ b/.readthedocs.yaml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ sphinx:
 build:
   os: ubuntu-22.04
   tools:
-    python: "3.11"
+    python: "3.13"
 python:
   install:
       # This runs pip install .[docs] from the project root.
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 62d528de..cc93d14e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+**1.3.0 - TBD/TBD/TBD**
+
+ - Add support for python 3.13
+
 **1.2.7 - 01/21/26**
 
  - Add support for python 3.12 and numpy 2.x
diff --git a/Jenkinsfile b/Jenkinsfile
index b82d8ee0..0f035008 100644
--- a/Jenkinsfile
+++ b/Jenkinsfile
@@ -33,8 +33,7 @@ reusable_pipeline(
     // Note: Newly added branches will require a manual trigger of the first build 
     // for subsequent scheduled builds to run.
     "main",
-    "epic/full_scale_testing",
-    "release-candidate/v.orange.rebased",
+    "release-candidate-spring26",
   ],
   stagger_scheduled_builds: true,
   upstream_repos: ["layered_config_tree"],
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index af5ab279..22375473 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,14 +1,93 @@
 # Check if we're running in Jenkins
 ifdef JENKINS_URL
-	# Files are already in workspace from shared library
+# 	Files are already in workspace from shared library
 	MAKE_INCLUDES := .
 else
-	# For local dev, use the installed vivarium_build_utils package
-	MAKE_INCLUDES := $(shell python -c "from vivarium_build_utils.resources import get_makefiles_path; print(get_makefiles_path())")
+# 	For local dev, use the installed vivarium_build_utils package if it exists
+# 	First, check if we can import vivarium_build_utils and assign 'yes' or 'no'.
+# 	We do this by importing the package in python and redirecting stderr to the null device.
+# 	If the import is successful (&&), it will print 'yes', otherwise (||) it will print 'no'.
+	VIVARIUM_BUILD_UTILS_AVAILABLE := $(shell python -c "import vivarium_build_utils" 2>/dev/null && echo "yes" || echo "no")
+# 	If vivarium_build_utils is available, get the makefiles path or else set it to empty
+	ifeq ($(VIVARIUM_BUILD_UTILS_AVAILABLE),yes)
+		MAKE_INCLUDES := $(shell python -c "from vivarium_build_utils.resources import get_makefiles_path; print(get_makefiles_path())")
+	else
+		MAKE_INCLUDES :=
+	endif
 endif
 
-PACKAGE_NAME = pseudopeople
+# Set the package name as the last part of this file's parent directory path
+PACKAGE_NAME = $(notdir $(CURDIR))
 
+ifneq ($(MAKE_INCLUDES),) # not empty
 # Include makefiles from vivarium_build_utils
 include $(MAKE_INCLUDES)/base.mk
 include $(MAKE_INCLUDES)/test.mk
+else # empty
+# Use this help message (since the vivarium_build_utils version is not available)
+help:
+	@echo
+	@echo "For Make's standard help, run 'make --help'."
+	@echo
+	@echo "Most of our Makefile targets are provided by the vivarium_build_utils"
+	@echo "package. To access them, you need to create a development environment first."
+	@echo
+	@echo "make build-env"
+	@echo
+	@echo "USAGE:"
+	@echo "  make build-env [name=<environment name>] [py=<python version>]"
+	@echo
+	@echo "ARGUMENTS:"
+	@echo "  name [optional]"
+	@echo "      Name of the conda environment to create (defaults to <PACKAGE_NAME>)"
+	@echo "  py [optional]"
+	@echo "      Python version (defaults to latest supported)"
+	@echo
+	@echo "After creating the environment:"
+	@echo "  1. Activate it: 'conda activate <environment_name>'"
+	@echo "  2. Run 'make help' again to see all newly available targets"
+	@echo
+endif
+
+build-env: # Create a new environment with installed packages
+#	Validate arguments - exit if unsupported arguments are passed
+	@allowed="name py"; \
+	for arg in $(filter-out build-env,$(MAKECMDGOALS)) $(MAKEFLAGS); do \
+		case $$arg in \
+			*=*) \
+				arg_name=$${arg%%=*}; \
+				if ! echo " $$allowed " | grep -q " $$arg_name "; then \
+					allowed_list=$$(echo $$allowed | sed 's/ /, /g'); \
+					echo "Error: Invalid argument '$$arg_name'. Allowed arguments are: $$allowed_list" >&2; \
+					exit 1; \
+				fi \
+				;; \
+		esac; \
+	done
+	
+#   Handle arguments and set defaults
+#	name
+	@$(eval name ?= $(PACKAGE_NAME))
+#	python version - validate if specified, else get default from json file
+	@supported_versions=$$(python -c "import json; print(' '.join(json.load(open('python_versions.json'))))" 2>/dev/null || echo ""); \
+	if [ -n "$(py)" ] && ! echo "$$supported_versions" | grep -q "$(py)"; then \
+		echo "Error: Python version '$(py)' is not supported. Available: $$(echo $$supported_versions | sed 's/ /, /g')" >&2; \
+		exit 1; \
+	fi
+	@$(eval py ?= $(shell python -c "import json; print(max(json.load(open('python_versions.json')), key=lambda x: tuple(map(int, x.split('.')))))"))
+	
+
+	conda create -n $(name) python=$(py) --yes
+# 	Bootstrap vivarium_build_utils into the new environment
+	conda run -n $(name) pip install vivarium_build_utils
+	conda run -n $(name) make install
+
+	@echo
+	@echo "Finished building environment"
+	@echo "  name: $(name)"
+	@echo "  python version: $(py)"
+	@echo
+	@echo "Don't forget to activate it with:"
+	@echo "conda activate $(name)"
+	@echo
+
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 2cd5de9d..03dbf1d8 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ pseudopeople is a Python package that generates realistic simulated data about a
 fictional United States population, designed for use in testing entity resolution
 (record linkage) methods or other data science algorithms at scale.
 
-**pseudopeople requires Python 3.10-3.12 to run**
+**pseudopeople requires Python 3.10-3.13 to run**
 
 You can install pseudopeople from PyPI with pip:
 
diff --git a/docs/source/index.rst b/docs/source/index.rst
index 0e7063fd..8e32a11c 100644
--- a/docs/source/index.rst
+++ b/docs/source/index.rst
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ out more about the principles and processes underlying this work.
 Quickstart
 ----------
 
-pseudopeople requires a version of `Python <https://www.python.org/>`_ between 3.10 and 3.12 (inclusive) to be installed.
+pseudopeople requires a version of `Python <https://www.python.org/>`_ between 3.10 and 3.13 (inclusive) to be installed.
 Once Python is installed, you can install pseudopeople with `pip <https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/>`_ by running the command:
 
 .. highlight:: console
diff --git a/python_versions.json b/python_versions.json
index 4a273941..350c415d 100644
--- a/python_versions.json
+++ b/python_versions.json
@@ -1 +1 @@
-["3.10", "3.11", "3.12"]
\ No newline at end of file
+["3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c84c25c4..f958d25e 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@
 
     install_requirements = [
         "vivarium_dependencies[numpy,pandas,pyyaml,pyarrow]",
-        "vivarium_build_utils>=1.1.0,<2.0.0",
-        "vivarium>=1.2.0",
+        "vivarium_build_utils>=2.1.0,<3.0.0",
+        "vivarium>=3.0.0,<4.0.0",
         "tqdm",
         "layered_config_tree>=1.0.1",
     ]
diff --git a/src/pseudopeople/noise_functions.py b/src/pseudopeople/noise_functions.py
index 941f5b6f..4b28bebe 100644
--- a/src/pseudopeople/noise_functions.py
+++ b/src/pseudopeople/noise_functions.py
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
     COPY_HOUSEHOLD_MEMBER_COLS,
     GUARDIAN_DUPLICATION_ADDRESS_COLUMNS,
     HOUSING_TYPE_GUARDIAN_DUPLICATION_RELATONSHIP_MAP,
-    INT_TO_STRING_COLUMNS,
 )
 from pseudopeople.data.fake_names import fake_first_names, fake_last_names
 from pseudopeople.noise_scaling import (