diff --git a/profiles/base/.aliases b/profiles/base/.aliases
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..88cdc5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/profiles/base/.aliases
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# aliases
+if [ -f .cargo/bin/bat ]; then
+    alias cat='bat'
+fi	
+alias clip='xsel --clipboard'
+alias groclean='rm \#*'
+alias sm='snakemake'
+alias ls='ls -lh'
+alias workon='source activate' # enable anaconda environ
diff --git a/profiles/base/.environment b/profiles/base/.environment
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..46cfd7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/profiles/base/.environment
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# system preferences
+export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
+export SSH_KEY_PATH="~/.ssh/rsa_id"
+
+# Prefered programs
+export EDITOR='vim'
+export TERMINAL="terminator"
+export BROWSER="firefox"
+export PAGER='most'
+export BAT_PAGER='less'
+
+# Path
+export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"
+export PATH="$HOME/anaconda3/bin:${PATH}" # binaries
+export PATH="$HOME/bin:${PATH}" # binaries
+export PATH="$HOME/scripts:${PATH}" # scripts
+export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:${PATH}" # python executeables
diff --git a/profiles/base/.zshrc b/profiles/base/.zshrc
index 6d9d7f8..2133ece 100644
--- a/profiles/base/.zshrc
+++ b/profiles/base/.zshrc
@@ -11,39 +11,20 @@ export ZIM_HOME=${ZDOTDIR:-${HOME}}/.zim
 # Start zim
 [[ -s ${ZIM_HOME}/init.zsh ]] && source ${ZIM_HOME}/init.zsh 
 
-# gromacs needs to be before ZIM for autocompletion
+# source other dotfiles
+source "$HOME/.environment"
+if [ -f "$HOME/.environment.local" ]; then
+	source "$HOME/.environment.local"
+fi
+
+source ".aliases"
+
 if [ -z "$GMXRC" ]; then
     GMXRC="/opt/gromacs-2018/bin/GMXRC"
 fi
 source $GMXRC
 
-# preferences
-export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
-export EDITOR='vim'
-export SSH_KEY_PATH="~/.ssh/rsa_id"
-export TERMINAL="terminator"
-export BROWSER="firefox"
-export PAGER='most'
-export BAT_PAGER='less'
-
-# alter path
-export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"
-export PATH="$HOME/anaconda3/bin:${PATH}" # binaries
-export PATH="$HOME/bin:${PATH}" # binaries
-export PATH="$HOME/scripts:${PATH}" # scripts
-export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:${PATH}" # python executeables
-
-# aliases
-if [ -f .cargo/bin/bat ]; then
-    alias cat='bat'
-fi	
-alias clip='xsel --clipboard'
-alias groclean='rm \#*'
-alias sm='snakemake'
-alias ls='ls -lh'
-alias workon='source activate' # enable anaconda environ
-
-# config specific to this machine (not copied from dotfiles)
+# config specific to this machine
 if [ -f $HOME/.zshrc_local ]; then
     source $HOME/.zshrc_local
 fi
@@ -53,4 +34,3 @@ eval "$(fasd --init auto)"
 
 # marker
 [[ -s "$HOME/.local/share/marker/marker.sh" ]] && source "$HOME/.local/share/marker/marker.sh"
-