(CNN) Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue appointed Vicki Christiansen as the new Forest Service chief, and she was sworn in Thursday.

She had been serving as the interim chief since March, when then-Chief Tony Tooke resigned amid reports that the agency was looking into misconduct allegations against him.

Christiansen has been at the Forest Service since 2010. She started working as a wildland firefighter while she was in college in Washington state, and she has been a firefighter and fire manager for 36 years, according to a US Department of Agriculture news release.

"As a former wildland firefighter and fire manager, Chief Christiansen knows what's needed to restore our forests and put them back to work for the taxpayers," Perdue said in the news release. "With seven years at the Forest Service and 30 years with the states of Arizona and Washington, Vicki's professional experience makes me confident that she will thrive in this role and hit the ground running."

"PBS NewsHour" published an investigation detailing accounts of sexual harassment at the Forest Service on March 1, which included claims of sexual misconduct against Tooke. He resigned a week after the investigation was published.

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