Brooke Ortel

Brooke Ortel is a senior Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College, where she also runs cross-country and track. She minored in chemistry and hopes to pursue environmental journalism or science writing after graduation. Growing up on Block Island, Rhode Island, inspired Brooke’s interest in environmental science and sparked her love of the outdoors. Her family owns and operates the Block Island Sport Shop, a specialty outdoor retailer.

Articles

Reaching Back, Driving Forward

Apr 20, 2017 April 20, 2017

At age 15, my brother, Wade Ortel, bought a rusty 1973 Volkswagen Bug, a purchase that marked the beginning of an extraordinary journey. His dream? To build an electric car, all on his own, using salvaged laptop batteries. Two years and countless hours of work later, the “e-Bug” is a… Read More

Culture

A Different Path: Living in Southern Chile with Bureo co-founder Ben Kneppers

Feb 8, 2016 February 8, 2016

Patagonia’s $20 Million & Change fund [Update: the investment fund is now called Tin Shed Ventures.] was launched in 2013 to help innovative, like-minded startups bring about solutions to the environmental crisis and other positive change through business. Or, in Yvon’s words, to help entrepreneurs and innovators succeed in “working with nature… Read More

Design