diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index bb7a34f..9023162 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/), and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.20.4]
+### Added
+* Agents can now be given any kwargs, which will be used to set their state
+* Environments have a default logger `self.logger` and a log method, just like agents
 ## [0.20.3]
 ### Fixed
 * Default state values are now deepcopied again.
diff --git a/soil/VERSION b/soil/VERSION
index 3428dd4..a4e543e 100644
--- a/soil/VERSION
+++ b/soil/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.20.3
\ No newline at end of file
+0.20.4
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/soil/agents/__init__.py b/soil/agents/__init__.py
index e7c3b6c..0602d32 100644
--- a/soil/agents/__init__.py
+++ b/soil/agents/__init__.py
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ class BaseAgent(Agent):
                  unique_id,
                  model,
                  name=None,
-                 interval=None):
+                 interval=None,
+                 **kwargs
+    ):
         # Check for REQUIRED arguments
         # Initialize agent parameters
         if isinstance(unique_id, Agent):
@@ -52,7 +54,8 @@ class BaseAgent(Agent):
 
         if hasattr(self, 'level'):
             self.logger.setLevel(self.level)
-
+        for (k, v) in kwargs.items():
+            setattr(self, k, v)
 
     # TODO: refactor to clean up mesa compatibility
     @property
diff --git a/soil/environment.py b/soil/environment.py
index 6df44be..25d8338 100644
--- a/soil/environment.py
+++ b/soil/environment.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import math
 import random
 import yaml
 import tempfile
+import logging
 import pandas as pd
 from time import time as current_time
 from copy import deepcopy
@@ -101,6 +102,8 @@ class Environment(Model):
             environment_agents = agents._convert_agent_types(distro)
         self.environment_agents = environment_agents
 
+        self.logger = utils.logger.getChild(self.name)
+
     @property
     def now(self):
         if self.schedule:
@@ -198,6 +201,18 @@ class Environment(Model):
         start = start or self.now
         return self.G.add_edge(agent1, agent2, **attrs)
 
+    def log(self, message, *args, level=logging.INFO, **kwargs):
+        if not self.logger.isEnabledFor(level):
+            return
+        message = message + " ".join(str(i) for i in args)
+        message = " @{:>3}: {}".format(self.now, message)
+        for k, v in kwargs:
+            message += " {k}={v} ".format(k, v)
+        extra = {}
+        extra['now'] = self.now
+        extra['unique_id'] = self.name
+        return self.logger.log(level, message, extra=extra)
+
     def step(self):
         super().step()
         self.schedule.step()