diff --git a/soil/VERSION b/soil/VERSION
index c317a91..288adf5 100644
--- a/soil/VERSION
+++ b/soil/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.13.1
+0.13.3
diff --git a/soil/__init__.py b/soil/__init__.py
index 1d2ddce..3a1e792 100644
--- a/soil/__init__.py
+++ b/soil/__init__.py
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ try:
 except NameError:
     basestring = str
 
-logging.basicConfig()
-
 from . import agents
 from .simulation import *
 from .environment import Environment
@@ -23,6 +21,9 @@ def main():
     import argparse
     from . import simulation
 
+    logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
+    logging.info('Running SOIL version: {}'.format(__version__))
+
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Run a SOIL simulation')
     parser.add_argument('file', type=str,
                         nargs="?",
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ def main():
         simulation.run_from_config(args.file,
                                    dry_run=args.dry_run,
                                    dump=dump,
-                                   parallel=(not args.synchronous and not args.pdb),
+                                   parallel=(not args.synchronous),
                                    results_dir=args.output)
     except Exception:
         if args.pdb:
diff --git a/soil/agents/__init__.py b/soil/agents/__init__.py
index 9d416f8..a24fb4f 100644
--- a/soil/agents/__init__.py
+++ b/soil/agents/__init__.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class BaseAgent(nxsim.BaseAgent):
 
     defaults = {}
 
-    def __init__(self, environment, agent_id=None, state=None,
+    def __init__(self, environment, agent_id, state=None,
                  name='network_process', interval=None, **state_params):
         # Check for REQUIRED arguments
         assert environment is not None, TypeError('__init__ missing 1 required keyword argument: \'environment\'. '
@@ -34,10 +34,6 @@ class BaseAgent(nxsim.BaseAgent):
         self.name = name
         self.state_params = state_params
 
-        # Global parameters
-        self.global_topology = environment.G
-        self.environment_params = environment.environment_params
-
         # Register agent to environment
         self.env = environment
 
@@ -73,6 +69,18 @@ class BaseAgent(nxsim.BaseAgent):
         for k, v in value.items():
             self[k] = v
 
+    @property
+    def global_topology(self):
+        return self.env.G
+    
+    @property
+    def environment_params(self):
+        return self.env.environment_params
+    
+    @environment_params.setter
+    def environment_params(self, value):
+        self.env.environment_params = value
+
     def __getitem__(self, key):
         if isinstance(key, tuple):
             key, t_step = key
@@ -126,9 +134,6 @@ class BaseAgent(nxsim.BaseAgent):
     def step(self):
         pass
 
-    def to_json(self):
-        return json.dumps(self.state)
-
     def count_agents(self, state_id=None, limit_neighbors=False):
         if limit_neighbors:
             agents = self.global_topology.neighbors(self.id)
@@ -182,6 +187,26 @@ class BaseAgent(nxsim.BaseAgent):
 
     def info(self, *args, **kwargs):
         return self.log(*args, level=logging.INFO, **kwargs)
+    
+    def __getstate__(self):
+        '''
+        Serializing an agent will lose all its running information (you cannot
+        serialize an iterator), but it keeps the state and link to the environment,
+        so it can be used for inspection and dumping to a file
+        '''
+        state = {}
+        state['id'] = self.id
+        state['environment'] = self.env
+        state['_state'] = self._state
+        return state
+
+    def __setstate__(self, state):
+        '''
+        Get back a serialized agent and try to re-compose it
+        '''
+        self.id = state['id']
+        self._state = state['_state']
+        self.env = state['environment']
 
 
 def state(func):
@@ -336,7 +361,7 @@ def serialize_distribution(network_agents, known_modules=[]):
     When serializing an agent distribution, remove the thresholds, in order
     to avoid cluttering the YAML definition file.
     '''
-    d = deepcopy(network_agents)
+    d = deepcopy(list(network_agents))
     for v in d:
         if 'threshold' in v:
             del v['threshold']
diff --git a/soil/environment.py b/soil/environment.py
index 8e1e9e4..4075702 100644
--- a/soil/environment.py
+++ b/soil/environment.py
@@ -14,6 +14,14 @@ import nxsim
 
 from . import utils, agents, analysis, history
 
+# These properties will be copied when pickling/unpickling the environment
+_CONFIG_PROPS = [ 'name',
+                 'states',
+                 'default_state',
+                 'interval',
+                 'dry_run',
+                 'dir_path',
+                 ]
 
 class Environment(nxsim.NetworkEnvironment):
     """
@@ -318,21 +326,22 @@ class Environment(nxsim.NetworkEnvironment):
                 G.add_node(agent.id, **attributes)
 
         return G
-
+    
     def __getstate__(self):
-        state = self.__dict__.copy()
+        state = {}
+        for prop in _CONFIG_PROPS:
+            state[prop] = self.__dict__[prop]
         state['G'] = json_graph.node_link_data(self.G)
-        state['network_agents'] = agents.serialize_distribution(self.network_agents)
-        state['environment_agents'] = agents._convert_agent_types(self.environment_agents,
-                                                                 to_string=True)
+        state['environment_agents'] = self._env_agents
+        state['history'] = self._history
         return state
 
     def __setstate__(self, state):
-        self.__dict__ = state
+        for prop in _CONFIG_PROPS:
+            self.__dict__[prop] = state[prop]
+        self._env_agents = state['environment_agents']
         self.G = json_graph.node_link_graph(state['G'])
-        self.network_agents = self.calculate_distribution(self._convert_agent_types(self.network_agents))
-        self.environment_agents = self._convert_agent_types(self.environment_agents)
-        return state
+        self._history = state['history']
 
 
 SoilEnvironment = Environment
diff --git a/soil/history.py b/soil/history.py
index 2f6023b..d20e3a3 100644
--- a/soil/history.py
+++ b/soil/history.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class History:
     def db(self):
         try:
             self._db.cursor()
-        except sqlite3.ProgrammingError:
+        except (sqlite3.ProgrammingError, AttributeError):
             self.db = None  # Reset the database
         return self._db
 
@@ -207,6 +207,16 @@ class History:
         if t_steps:
             df_p = df_p.reindex(t_steps, method='ffill')
         return df_p.ffill()
+    
+    def __getstate__(self):
+        state = dict(**self.__dict__)
+        del state['_db']
+        del state['_dtypes']
+        return state
+    
+    def __setstate__(self, state):
+        self.__dict__ = state
+        self._dtypes = {}
 
 
 class Records():
diff --git a/soil/simulation.py b/soil/simulation.py
index a35d517..b2b0f7b 100644
--- a/soil/simulation.py
+++ b/soil/simulation.py
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ class Simulation(NetworkSimulation):
             return self.run_trial(*args, **kwargs)
         except Exception as ex:
             c = ex.__cause__
-            c.message = ''.join(traceback.format_tb(c.__traceback__)[3:])
+            c.message = ''.join(traceback.format_exception(type(c), c, c.__traceback__)[:])
             return c
 
     def to_dict(self):
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index 8bdc0e2..12b3ab4 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from unittest import TestCase
 
 import os
 import yaml
+import pickle
 import networkx as nx
 from functools import partial
 
@@ -248,12 +249,10 @@ class TestMain(TestCase):
         assert name == 'soil.agents.BaseAgent'
         assert ser == agents.BaseAgent
 
-        class CustomAgent(agents.BaseAgent):
-            pass
-
         ser, name = utils.serialize(CustomAgent)
         assert name == 'test_main.CustomAgent'
         assert ser == CustomAgent
+        pickle.dumps(ser)
 
     def test_serialize_builtin_types(self):
 
@@ -269,7 +268,8 @@ class TestMain(TestCase):
         assert ser == 'test_main.CustomAgent'
         ser = agents.serialize_type(agents.BaseAgent)
         assert ser == 'BaseAgent'
-
+        pickle.dumps(ser)
+    
     def test_deserialize_agent_distribution(self):
         agent_distro = [
             {
@@ -284,6 +284,7 @@ class TestMain(TestCase):
         converted = agents.deserialize_distribution(agent_distro)
         assert converted[0]['agent_type'] == agents.CounterModel
         assert converted[1]['agent_type'] == CustomAgent
+        pickle.dumps(converted)
 
     def test_serialize_agent_distribution(self):
         agent_distro = [
@@ -299,6 +300,20 @@ class TestMain(TestCase):
         converted = agents.serialize_distribution(agent_distro)
         assert converted[0]['agent_type'] == 'CounterModel'
         assert converted[1]['agent_type'] == 'test_main.CustomAgent'
+        pickle.dumps(converted)
+
+    def test_pickle_agent_environment(self):
+        env = Environment(name='Test')
+        a = agents.BaseAgent(environment=env, agent_id=25)
+
+        a['key'] = 'test'
+
+        pickled = pickle.dumps(a)
+        recovered = pickle.loads(pickled)
+
+        assert recovered.env.name == 'Test'
+        assert recovered['key'] == 'test'
+        assert recovered['key', 0] == 'test'
 
     def test_history(self):
         '''Test storing in and retrieving from history (sqlite)'''