diff --git a/R/ark-variables-methods.R b/R/ark-variables-methods.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..066160f2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/ark-variables-methods.R
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+
+# Methods for Populating the Positron/Ark Variables Pane
+# These methods primarily delegate to the implementation in the
+# Positron python_ipykernel.inspectors python module.
+
+#' @param x Object to get the display value for
+#' @param width Maximum expected width. This is just a suggestion, the UI
+#'   can stil truncate the string to different widths.
+ark_positron_variable_display_value.python.builtin.object <- function(x, ..., width = getOption("width")) {
+  .globals$get_positron_variable_inspector(x)$get_display_value(width)[[1L]]
+}
+
+
+#' @param x Object to get the display type for
+#' @param include_length Boolean indicating whether to include object length.
+ark_positron_variable_display_type.python.builtin.object <- function(x, ..., include_length = TRUE) {
+  i <- .globals$get_positron_variable_inspector(x)
+  out <-  i$get_display_type()
+
+  if(startsWith(class(x)[1], "python.builtin."))
+    out <- paste("python", out)
+
+  out
+}
+
+
+#' @param x Object to get the variable kind for
+ark_positron_variable_kind.python.builtin.object <- function(x, ...) {
+  i <- .globals$get_positron_variable_inspector(x)
+  i$get_kind()
+}
+
+
+#' @param x Check if `x` has children
+ark_positron_variable_has_children.python.builtin.object <- function(x, ...) {
+  i <- .globals$get_positron_variable_inspector(x)
+  i$has_children()
+}
+
+ark_positron_variable_get_children.python.builtin.object <- function(x, ...) {
+  # Return an R list of children. The order of children should be
+  # stable between repeated calls on the same object. For example:
+  i <- .globals$get_positron_variable_inspector(x)
+
+  get_keys_and_children <- .globals$ark_variable_get_keys_and_children
+  if (is.null(get_keys_and_children)) {
+    get_keys_and_children <- .globals$ark_variable_get_keys_and_children <- py_eval(
+      "lambda i: zip(*((str(key), i.get_child(key)) for key in i.get_children()))",
+      convert = FALSE
+    )
+  }
+
+  keys_and_children <- iterate(get_keys_and_children(i), simplify = FALSE)
+  out <- iterate(keys_and_children[[2L]], simplify = FALSE)
+  names(out) <- as.character(py_to_r(keys_and_children[[1L]]))
+
+  out
+}
+
+#' @param index An integer > 1, representing the index position of the child in the
+#'   list returned by `ark_variable_get_children()`.
+#' @param name The name of the child, corresponding to `names(ark_variable_get_children(x))[index]`.
+#'   This may be a string or `NULL`. If using the name, it is the method author's responsibility to ensure
+#'   the name is a valid, unique accessor. Additionally, if the original name from `ark_variable_get_children()`
+#'   was too long, `ark` may discard the name and supply `name = NULL` instead.
+ark_positron_variable_get_child_at.python.builtin.object <- function(x, ..., name, index) {
+  # cat("name: ", name, "index: ", index, "\n", file = "~/debug.log", append = TRUE)
+  # This could be implemented as:
+  #   ark_variable_get_children(x)[[index]]
+  i <- .globals$get_positron_variable_inspector(x)
+  get_child <- .globals$ark_variable_get_child
+  if (is.null(get_child)) {
+    get_child <- .globals$ark_variable_get_child <- py_run_string(
+      local = TRUE, convert = FALSE, "
+def new_get_child():
+  from itertools import islice
+  def get_child(inspector, index):
+    key = next(islice(inspector.get_children(), index-1, None))
+    return inspector.get_child(key)
+  return get_child
+")$new_get_child()
+  }
+
+  get_child(i, index)
+}
diff --git a/R/zzz.R b/R/zzz.R
index a60a419d1..a4befd2c2 100644
--- a/R/zzz.R
+++ b/R/zzz.R
@@ -61,9 +61,61 @@
   s3_register <- asNamespace("rlang")$s3_register
   s3_register("pillar::type_sum", "python.builtin.object")
 
+  if (is_positron()) {
+
+    setHook("reticulate.onPyInit", function() {
+
+      # options("ark.testing" = TRUE)
+      inspectors <- import_positron_ipykernel_inspectors()
+      if(is.null(inspectors)) {
+        # warning("positron_ipykernel.inspectors could not be found, variables pane support for Python objects will be limited")
+        return()
+      }
+
+      .globals$get_positron_variable_inspector <- inspectors$get_inspector
+
+      .ark.register_method <- get(".ark.register_method", envir = globalenv())
+
+      for (method_name in c(
+        "ark_positron_variable_display_value",
+        "ark_positron_variable_display_type",
+        "ark_positron_variable_has_children",
+        "ark_positron_variable_kind",
+        "ark_positron_variable_get_child_at",
+        "ark_positron_variable_get_children"
+      )) {
+        method_sym <- as.name(paste0(method_name, ".python.builtin.object"))
+        .ark.register_method(
+          method_name, "python.builtin.object",
+          call(":::", quote(reticulate), method_sym))
+      }
+    })
+  }
 }
 
 
 # .onUnload <- function(libpath) {
 #   py_finalize() # called from reg.finalizer(.globals) instead.
 # }
+
+
+import_positron_ipykernel_inspectors <- function() {
+  if(!is_positron())
+    return (NULL)
+
+  x <- Sys.getenv("_")
+  # x ==
+  # on mac: "/Applications/Positron.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/positron-r/resources/ark/ark"
+  if (grepl("positron-r", x, ignore.case = TRUE)) {
+    inspectors_path <- list.files(
+      path =  sub("positron-r.*$", "positron-python", x),
+      pattern = "^inspectors.py$",
+      recursive = TRUE, full.names = TRUE
+    )
+    # inspectors_path ==
+    # on mac: "/Applications/Positron.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/positron-python/python_files/positron/positron_ipykernel/inspectors.py"
+    if (length(inspectors_path) == 1) {
+      import_from_path("positron_ipykernel.inspectors", path = dirname(dirname(inspectors_path)))
+    }
+  }
+}