The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently appointed four experienced candidates to senior staff positions in Washington, D.C.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the designated individuals will continue to enhance the efforts of the department throughout the globe.

The new senior staff in Washington, D.C., will include Scott Marlow as the deputy administrator for farm programs in the Farm Service Agency; Tim Gannon as the chief of staff for farm production and conservation; Sara Bleich, PhD, as the director of nutrition security and health equity for the Food and Nutrition Service; and Andrea Delgado as the chief of staff for natural resources and environment, a news release said.

“The collective expertise of Tim, Andrea, Scott and Sara will continue our efforts to effectively serve people in communities across the country – and around the world,” Vilsack said. “They are valuable assets to the work being done at the department.”

To his new position as deputy administrator for farm programs, Marlow brings the experience of over 20 years in the non-profit sector with the Rural Advancement Foundation International in several roles during his time there, the news release said.

USDA said that Gannon is coming back to the organization after serving as the director of advance in the Office of the Secretary and associate administrator in the Risk Management Agency during the Obama-Biden Administration.

Delgado most recently served as government affairs director at the United Farm Workers Foundation, while Bleich brings experience as senior advisor for COVID-19 in the Office of the Secretary and professor of public health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.