diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3e980cf..349e915 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ Optional environment variables:
 * `GATEWAY_EXTRA_SCRIPTS` - JSON array of script paths, will be embedded into each page and forwarded with `--scripts` to cellxgene server
 * `GATEWAY_ENABLE_ANNOTATIONS` - Set to `true` or to `1` to enable cellxgene annotations. 
 * `GATEWAY_ENABLE_BACKED_MODE` - Set to `true` or to `1` to load AnnData in file-backed mode. This saves memory and speeds up launch time but may reduce overall performance.
+* `GATEWAY_LOG_LEVEL` - default is `INFO`. set to `DEBUG` to increase logging and to `WARNING` to decrease logging.
 * `S3_ENABLE_LISTINGS_CACHE` - Set to `true` or to `1` to cache listings of S3 folders for performance. If the cache becomes stale, set `filecrawl.html?refresh=true` query parameter to refresh the cache.
 
 If any of the following optional variables are set, [ProxyFix](https://werkzeug.palletsprojects.com/en/1.0.x/middleware/proxy_fix/) will be used.
diff --git a/cellxgene_gateway/env.py b/cellxgene_gateway/env.py
index 5f98160..26288c4 100644
--- a/cellxgene_gateway/env.py
+++ b/cellxgene_gateway/env.py
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 
 import logging
 import os
-import socket
 
 cellxgene_location = os.environ.get("CELLXGENE_LOCATION")
 cellxgene_data = os.environ.get("CELLXGENE_DATA", "")
@@ -33,6 +32,7 @@ enable_backed_mode = os.environ.get("GATEWAY_ENABLE_BACKED_MODE", "").lower() in
     "true",
     "1",
 ]
+log_level = logging.getLevelName(os.environ.get("GATEWAY_LOG_LEVEL", "INFO"))
 
 env_vars = {
     "CELLXGENE_LOCATION": cellxgene_location,
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ optional_env_vars = {
     "GATEWAY_TTL": ttl,
     "GATEWAY_ENABLE_ANNOTATIONS": enable_annotations,
     "GATEWAY_ENABLE_BACKED_MODE": enable_backed_mode,
+    "GATEWAY_LOG_LEVEL": log_level,
     "CELLXGENE_ARGS": cellxgene_args,
     "CELLXGENE_DATA": cellxgene_data,
     "PROXY_FIX_FOR": proxy_fix_for,
diff --git a/cellxgene_gateway/gateway.py b/cellxgene_gateway/gateway.py
index 11302ec..c930974 100644
--- a/cellxgene_gateway/gateway.py
+++ b/cellxgene_gateway/gateway.py
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ def launch():
 
 def main():
     logging.basicConfig(
-        level=logging.INFO,
+        level=env.log_level,
         format="%(asctime)s:%(name)s:%(levelname)s:%(message)s",
     )
     cellxgene_data = os.environ.get("CELLXGENE_DATA", None)