Dr. Cathleen McCluskey is the Policy and Advocacy director for Organic Seed Alliance (OSA), a national organization that conducts research and training with seed farmers and develops policies for organic seed, food, and farming systems. She leads the legal and cultural advocacy work developing policies that support organic agriculture and farmers' rights to save seed, and co-directs OSA's State of Organic Seed project and leads federal policy initiatives targeting Congress and federal agencies. McCluskey also serves on the National Organic Standards Board, the Federal Advisory Board that makes recommendations on issues involving the production, handling, and processing of organic products. Her research focuses on seed systems, intellectual property, market concentration, germplasm management and diversity, data access and transparency, and democratization of science and knowledge. She holds a PhD in Environment and Resources and an MS in Agroecology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.