Kathleen Sgamma was appointed as the new president of the Western Energy Alliance Dec. 1. The board voted to promote her from vice president of government and public affairs, and she will replace Tim Wigley as president.

Sgamma has worked at the Western Energy Alliance for more than a decade, the oil and natural gas trade association said.

Daryll Howard, chairman of the Western Energy Alliance and CEO of Fuse Energy, said that Sgamma has built up the trade association’s strong advocacy program that will be instrumental as it works with the new Trump administration.

Sgamma said that for several years, the Western Energy Alliance has worked against federal regulatory overreach, particularly with respect to environmental and public lands policies. She also said the oil and natural gas industry is--and should be--heavily regulated, as states and the federal government have been doing for many decades.

Sgamma is a U.S. Army veteran and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech.