Mariel Ortega

Mariel is a Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences major (a true mouthful) from San Antonio, Texas. But more importantly, she is the loudest and proudest member of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2021. From the time she first went birding (yes, that’s a word) with cardboard “camouflage” to doing mad-sciencey things, Mariel’s amassed quite the arsenal of bird facts. (Did you know a peacock is actually a male peafowl?) Her goal is to change the world one person at a time—or more likely, one bird at a time.