Freshman’s marine bio TikTok scores mass following

John Dombrowski ‘23 takes the same rigorous approach to his viral Tik Tok career as he does his academic demands as a Cornell student. With a TikTok account boasting 1.5 million followers and 66 million likes, his videos range from marine biology facts to college advice to makeup recommendations.

“I have a whole notebook of hundreds and hundreds of ideas for videos. I take so many notes and do so much research every single day,” said Dombrowski, who is planning to major in biology. “Yesterday, I did the math behind sharknado. I had to calculate the terminal velocity of a great white shark. It took me an hour.”

Dombrowski’s first video, posted in September 2019 describing some of his funniest high school memories, went viral overnight. He believes the key to TikTok fame is to find a unique niche of content to create. After his first video, his mom suggested he curate content about his passion, marine biology, and he realized that no current TikTok creators were discussing the subject. Dombrowski focused his videos on interesting facts and research and he quickly succeeded. He has since posted hundreds of TikToks to his account, with some earning more than 1.6 million likes. 

Many of his ideas have come from Cornell classes, he said. “All of my four biology classes last semester contributed to interesting content. Cornell has helped so much in the creation of my videos.” 

Cornell’s strong marine biology program, including the opportunity for students to work in the Shoals Marine Laboratory, is the reason Dombrowski chose the school. “Choose the school that is going to best educate you and make you the best in your field, because that is what is going to lead to the best success,” Dombrowski said, when asked about advice for prospective students. 

As a first-year student, Dombrowski said he’s found it helpful to reach out to faculty and older students for academic advice, in addition to the assigned faculty advisors. It’s helped him gain many perspectives about the paths he could take within the biology program.

Even though the campus has moved to remote learning, Dombrowski plans to continue creating TikTok content focused on his passion for life that exists beneath the ocean’s surface.