diff --git a/gulpfile.js b/gulpfile.js
index 130f859..d70da12 100644
--- a/gulpfile.js
+++ b/gulpfile.js
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 // include packages
-var gulp = require("gulp"),
+const gulp = require("gulp"),
     gUtil = require("gulp-util"),
     gLess = require("gulp-less"),
     gConcat = require("gulp-concat"),
     gPlumber = require("gulp-plumber"),
     gUglify = require("gulp-uglify"),
     gModernizr = require("gulp-modernizr"),
+    gBabel = require("gulp-babel"),
     gPostCSS = require("gulp-postcss"),
     autoprefixer = require("autoprefixer"),
     lessGlob = require("less-plugin-glob"),
@@ -13,18 +14,18 @@ var gulp = require("gulp"),
     lessCleanCSS = require("less-plugin-clean-css");
 
 // determine if gulp has been run with --production
-var prod = gUtil.env.production;
+const prod = gUtil.env.production;
 
 // initialize plugins
-var cleancss = new lessCleanCSS({ advanced: true });
+const cleancss = new lessCleanCSS({ advanced: true });
 
 // declare plugin settings and modernizr tests
-var lessPlugins = prod ? [ lessGlob, cleancss ] : [ lessGlob ],
+const lessPlugins = prod ? [ lessGlob, cleancss ] : [ lessGlob ],
     autoprefixerSettings = { remove: false, cascade: false, browsers: [ "last 6 versions" ] },
     modernizrTests = [];
 
 // javascript files for the public site
-var jsPublic = [
+const jsPublic = [
     "resources/assets/js/site-vars.js",
     "resources/assets/js/contact.js",
     "resources/assets/js/subscription.js",
@@ -32,19 +33,19 @@ var jsPublic = [
 ];
 
 // javascript libraries for the public site
-var jsPublicLibs = [
+const jsPublicLibs = [
     "bower_components/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js",
     "bower_components/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.min.js",
     "bower_components/jQuery.stickyFooter/assets/js/jquery.stickyfooter.js"
 ];
 
 // javascript files for the dashboard
-var jsDashboard = [
+const jsDashboard = [
     "resources/assets/js/dashboard.js"
 ];
 
 // javascript libraries for the dashboard
-var jsDashboardLibs = [
+const jsDashboardLibs = [
     "bower_components/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js",
     "bower_components/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.min.js",
     "bower_components/Sortable/Sortable.js",
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ var jsDashboardLibs = [
 ];
 
 // paths to folders containing fonts that should be copied to public/fonts/
-var fontPaths = [
+const fontPaths = [
     "resources/assets/fonts/**",
     "bower_components/bootstrap/dist/fonts/**",
     "bower_components/font-awesome/fonts/**"
@@ -76,12 +77,12 @@ function processLess(filename) {
 }
 
 // function to handle the processing of javascript files
-function processJavaScript(ouputFilename, inputFiles) {
-    var javascript = gulp.src(inputFiles)
+function processJavaScript(ouputFilename, inputFiles, es6) {
+    const javascript = gulp.src(inputFiles)
         .pipe(gPlumber(plumberError))
         .pipe(gConcat(ouputFilename + ".js"));
 
-    // minify if running gulp with --production
+    if (es6) { javascript.pipe(gBabel({ presets: [ "es2015" ] })); }
     if (prod) { javascript.pipe(gUglify()); }
     return javascript.pipe(gulp.dest("public/js/"));
 }
@@ -98,28 +99,33 @@ gulp.task("less-dashboard", function() {
 
 // gulp task for public javascript
 gulp.task("js-public", function() {
-    return processJavaScript("app", jsPublic);
+    return processJavaScript("app", jsPublic, true);
 });
 
 // gulp task for public javascript libraries
 gulp.task("js-public-libs", function() {
-    return processJavaScript("lib", jsPublicLibs);
+    return processJavaScript("lib", jsPublicLibs, false);
 });
 
 // gulp task for dashboard javascript
 gulp.task("js-dashboard", function() {
-    return processJavaScript("dashboard", jsDashboard);
+    return processJavaScript("dashboard", jsDashboard, true);
 });
 
 // gulp task for dashboard javascript libraries
 gulp.task("js-dashboard-libs", function() {
-    return processJavaScript("lib-dashboard", jsDashboardLibs);
+    return processJavaScript("lib-dashboard", jsDashboardLibs, false);
 });
 
 // gulp task for modernizr
 gulp.task("modernizr", function() {
-    var modernizr = gulp.src([ "public/js/lib.js", "public/js/app.js", "public/css/app.css" ])
-        .pipe(gModernizr({ tests: modernizrTests, crawl: false }))
+    const modernizr = gulp.src([ "public/js/lib.js", "public/js/app.js", "public/css/app.css" ])
+        .pipe(gModernizr({
+            tests: modernizrTests,
+            excludeTests: [ "hidden" ],
+            crawl: false,
+            options: [ "setClasses", "addTest", "html5printshiv", "testProp", "fnBind" ]
+        }))
         .pipe(gPlumber(plumberError))
         .pipe(gConcat("modernizr.js"));
 
@@ -137,9 +143,9 @@ gulp.task("fonts", function() {
 
 // gulp watch task
 gulp.task("watch", function() {
-    var gLiveReload = require("gulp-livereload");
+    const gLiveReload = require("gulp-livereload");
 
-    var liveReloadUpdate = function(wait) {
+    const liveReloadUpdate = function(wait) {
         setTimeout(function() {
             gLiveReload.changed(".");
         }, wait || 1);
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 144062f..7403f77 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -5,9 +5,11 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "autoprefixer": "^6.3.6",
+    "babel-preset-es2015": "^6.9.0",
     "gulp": "^3.9.1",
+    "gulp-babel": "^6.1.2",
     "gulp-concat": "^2.6.0",
-    "gulp-less": "^3.0.5",
+    "gulp-less": "^3.1.0",
     "gulp-modernizr": "^1.0.0-alpha",
     "gulp-plumber": "^1.1.0",
     "gulp-postcss": "^6.1.1",