diff --git a/client/src/utils/dates.test.ts b/client/src/utils/dates.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..be2ee28c06eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/src/utils/dates.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { formatGalaxyPrettyDateString, galaxyTimeToDate, localizeUTCPretty } from "./dates";
+
+describe("dates.ts", () => {
+    describe("galaxyTimeToDate", () => {
+        it("should convert valid galaxyTime string to Date object", () => {
+            const galaxyTime = "2023-10-01T12:00:00";
+            const date = galaxyTimeToDate(galaxyTime);
+            expect(date).toBeInstanceOf(Date);
+            expect(date.toISOString()).toBe("2023-10-01T12:00:00.000Z");
+        });
+
+        it("should append Z if missing and parse correctly", () => {
+            const galaxyTime = "2023-10-01T12:00:00";
+            const date = galaxyTimeToDate(galaxyTime);
+            expect(date.toISOString()).toBe("2023-10-01T12:00:00.000Z");
+        });
+
+        it("should throw an error for invalid galaxyTime string", () => {
+            const invalidGalaxyTime = "invalid-date-string";
+            expect(() => galaxyTimeToDate(invalidGalaxyTime)).toThrow(
+                `Invalid galaxyTime string: ${invalidGalaxyTime}`
+            );
+        });
+    });
+
+    describe("localizeUTCPretty", () => {
+        it("should format Date object into human-readable string", () => {
+            const date = new Date("2023-10-01T12:00:00Z");
+            const formatted = localizeUTCPretty(date);
+            expect(formatted).toBe("Sunday Oct 1st 8:00:00 2023 GMT-4");
+        });
+    });
+
+    describe("formatGalaxyPrettyDateString", () => {
+        it("should convert galaxyTime string to formatted date string", () => {
+            const galaxyTime = "2023-10-01T12:00:00";
+            const formatted = formatGalaxyPrettyDateString(galaxyTime);
+            expect(formatted).toBe("Sunday Oct 1st 8:00:00 2023 GMT-4");
+        });
+    });
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/client/src/utils/dates.ts b/client/src/utils/dates.ts
index 17356236f2e8..e89cc7829811 100644
--- a/client/src/utils/dates.ts
+++ b/client/src/utils/dates.ts
@@ -6,12 +6,16 @@ import { format, parseISO } from "date-fns";
  * @returns {Date} The parsed Date object.
  */
 export function galaxyTimeToDate(galaxyTime: string): Date {
-    // We likely don't have tzinfo, but this will always be UTC coming
-    // from Galaxy so append Z to assert that prior to parsing
-    if (!galaxyTime.endsWith("Z")) {
-        galaxyTime += "Z";
+    // Galaxy doesn't include Zulu time zone designator, but it's always UTC
+    // so we need to add it to parse the string correctly in JavaScript.
+    let time = galaxyTime;
+    if (!time.endsWith("Z")) {
+        time += "Z";
+    }
+    const date = parseISO(time);
+    if (isNaN(date.getTime())) {
+        throw new Error(`Invalid galaxyTime string: ${galaxyTime}`);
     }
-    const date = parseISO(galaxyTime);
     return date;
 }