Merge candidate release into main

This MR merges the candidate release branch into main. Once implemented, main will represent the version of the package that has been approved for official release. Following a successful merge, we will create a release branch called v1.0.0, and create a tag and release for it. The v1.0.0 represents the official release (and we'll need to add the official disclaimer), and then main can continue to accumulate changes as new development occurs.