diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-build-and-push.yml b/.github/workflows/docker-build-and-push.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d0df5fd77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-build-and-push.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+#
+name: Create and publish a Docker image
+
+# Configures this workflow to run every time a change is pushed to the branch called `release`.
+on:
+  push:
+    #on pull_request from container for testing
+    branches: ['container']
+
+# Defines two custom environment variables for the workflow. These are used for the Container registry domain, and a name for the Docker image that this workflow builds.
+env:
+  REGISTRY: ghcr.io
+  IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}
+
+# There is a single job in this workflow. It's configured to run on the latest available version of Ubuntu.
+jobs:
+  build-and-push-image:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    # Sets the permissions granted to the `GITHUB_TOKEN` for the actions in this job.
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      packages: write
+      attestations: write
+      id-token: write
+      # 
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      # Uses the `docker/login-action` action to log in to the Container registry registry using the account and password that will publish the packages. Once published, the packages are scoped to the account defined here.
+      - name: Log in to the Container registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@65b78e6e13532edd9afa3aa52ac7964289d1a9c1
+        with:
+          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
+          username: ${{ github.actor }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+      # This step uses [docker/metadata-action](https://github.com/docker/metadata-action#about) to extract tags and labels that will be applied to the specified image. The `id` "meta" allows the output of this step to be referenced in a subsequent step. The `images` value provides the base name for the tags and labels.
+      - name: Extract metadata (tags, labels) for Docker
+        id: meta
+        uses: docker/metadata-action@9ec57ed1fcdbf14dcef7dfbe97b2010124a938b7
+        with:
+          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
+      # This step uses the `docker/build-push-action` action to build the image, based on your repository's `Dockerfile`. If the build succeeds, it pushes the image to GitHub Packages.
+      # It uses the `context` parameter to define the build's context as the set of files located in the specified path. For more information, see "[Usage](https://github.com/docker/build-push-action#usage)" in the README of the `docker/build-push-action` repository.
+      # It uses the `tags` and `labels` parameters to tag and label the image with the output from the "meta" step.
+      - name: Build and push Docker image
+        id: push
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@f2a1d5e99d037542a71f64918e516c093c6f3fc4
+        with:
+          context: .
+          push: true
+          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
+          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
+      
+      # This step generates an artifact attestation for the image, which is an unforgeable statement about where and how it was built. It increases supply chain security for people who consume the image. For more information, see "[AUTOTITLE](/actions/security-guides/using-artifact-attestations-to-establish-provenance-for-builds)." 
+      - name: Generate artifact attestation
+        uses: actions/attest-build-provenance@v1
+        with:
+          subject-name: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME}}
+          subject-digest: ${{ steps.push.outputs.digest }}
+          push-to-registry: true
+      
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..76618b33d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+FROM mambaorg/micromamba:1.5.8 as micromamba
+  
+USER root
+# Container Metadata
+LABEL maintainer="mdtf-framework-team"
+LABEL org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/aradhakrishnanGFDL/MDTF-diagnostics/
+LABEL org.opencontainers.image.description="This is a docker image for the MDTF-diagnostics package"
+LABEL version="20140100.beta"
+
+# Copy the MDTF-diagnostics package contents from local machine to image (or from git)
+ENV CODE_ROOT=/proj/MDTF-diagnostics
+
+COPY src ${CODE_ROOT}/src
+
+COPY data ${CODE_ROOT}/data
+COPY diagnostics ${CODE_ROOT}/diagnostics
+COPY mdtf_framework.py ${CODE_ROOT}
+COPY shared ${CODE_ROOT}/shared
+COPY tests ${CODE_ROOT}/tests
+
+# Install conda environments
+ENV CONDA_ROOT=/opt/conda/
+ENV CONDA_ENV_DIR=/opt/conda/envs
+RUN apt-get -y update
+#dev purpose only - install vim
+RUN apt-get -y install vim
+RUN apt-get -y install git
+
+RUN micromamba create -f /proj/MDTF-diagnostics/src/conda/env_base.yml && \
+    micromamba create -f /proj/MDTF-diagnostics/src/conda/env_python3_base.yml && \
+    micromamba create -f /proj/MDTF-diagnostics/src/conda/_env_synthetic_data.yml && \
+    micromamba clean --all --yes && \
+    micromamba clean --force-pkgs-dirs --yes
+
+ENV PATH="${PATH}:/proj/MDTF-diagnostics/"