diff --git a/environment-dev.yml b/environment-dev.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..aacffa1776
--- /dev/null
+++ b/environment-dev.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+name: testenv
+channels:
+  - conda-forge
+  - defaults
+dependencies:
+  - python=3.6
+  - arviz>=0.9
+  - theano>=1.0.4
+  - numpy>=1.13
+  - scipy>=0.18
+  - pandas >=0.18
+  - patsy>=0.5
+  - fastprogress>=0.2
+  - h5py>=2.7
+  - typing-extensions>=3.7
+  - bokeh>=0.12
+  - coverage>=5.1
+  - python-graphviz
+  - ipython>=7.16
+  - nbsphinx>=0.4
+  - nose>=1.3
+  - nose-parameterized>=0.6
+  - numpydoc>=0.9
+  - pycodestyle>=2.3
+  - pyflakes>=1.5
+  - pylint>=1.7
+  - pytest-cov>=2.5
+  - pytest>=3.0
+  - recommonmark>=0.4
+  - seaborn>=0.8
+  - sphinx-autobuild>=0.7
+  - sphinx>=1.5
+  - watermark
+  - parameterized
+  - black
+  - ipywidgets
+  - dataclasses  # python_version < 3.7
+  - contextvars  # python_version < 3.7
+  - pip:
+    - black_nbconvert
diff --git a/scripts/create_testenv.sh b/scripts/create_testenv.sh
index 8a9eedee4c..869e5ebe77 100755
--- a/scripts/create_testenv.sh
+++ b/scripts/create_testenv.sh
@@ -20,24 +20,18 @@ command -v conda >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
 }
 
 ENVNAME="${ENVNAME:-testenv}"         # if no ENVNAME is specified, use testenv
-PYTHON_VERSION=${PYTHON_VERSION:-3.6} # if no python specified, use 3.6
 
 if [ -z ${GLOBAL} ]; then
   if conda env list | grep -q ${ENVNAME}; then
     echo "Environment ${ENVNAME} already exists, keeping up to date"
   else
-    conda create -n ${ENVNAME} --yes pip python=${PYTHON_VERSION}
-    conda config --add channels conda-forge
+    conda env create -f environment-dev.yml
     conda config --set channel_priority strict
   fi
   source activate ${ENVNAME}
 fi
 
 conda update --yes --all
-conda install --yes python-graphviz ipywidgets
-conda install --yes --file requirements.txt
-conda install --yes --file requirements-dev.txt
-pip install --no-cache-dir --force-reinstall black_nbconvert
 
 #  Install editable using the setup.py
 if [ -z ${NO_SETUP} ]; then