President Barack Obama today announced his choice of Kathleen Merrigan as deputy secretary of the Agriculture Department.

Merrigan is no stranger to USDA, having served as administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service under President Clinton from 1999 to 2001. She is currently Assistant Professor and Director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment MS and PhD Program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Boston MA.

Because Merrigan helped develop USDA’s U.S. organic food labeling rules and has been involved in organic policy on both the national and international levels, her choice is being well received by organizations such as the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, which were disappointed with Obama’s pick of Tom Vilsack for secretary of agriculture. No reaction yet from agriculture groups on her nomination.