\u201cWhat\u2019s This Shark?!\u201d \u201cThe Largest Amphibians!\u201d \u201cMy Favorite Chemical Exfoliant for Sensitive Skin.\u201d \u201cThis Spider Is Crazy!\u201d What do these videos have in common? They\u2019re all TikToks<\/a> by J.C. Dombrowski \u201923, a leading social media personality with a global reach, boasting nearly 3 million followers on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With more than a quarter of a billion<\/em> likes on TikTok, Dombrowski occupies an unusual niche. His short videos mainly focus on one of three topics: marine biology, entomology, and skincare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first two are his majors in Arts & Sciences\u2014but the third (a particular passion of his) isn\u2019t as disconnected as it may seem, since Dombrowski often delves into the science underlying the moisturizers, exfoliants, and other products he showcases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy social media has become a reflection of whatever I\u2019m most interested in at the time,\u201d says Dombrowski, speaking with Cornellians<\/em> over Zoom between classes. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of where I spitball and pour all of the interesting facts that I have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n My social media has become a reflection of whatever I\u2019m most interested in at the time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In a TikTok titled \u201cWhat\u2019s Wrong with this Snail?\u201d (3.1 million views), Dombrowski details the gory results of an infection by a parasitic flatworm. In \u201cThe Loneliest Place on Earth!\u201d (4.2 million views), he describes \u201cPoint Nemo,\u201d the area in the ocean that\u2019s furthest from land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In \u201c3 Skincare Facts You Might Not Know!\u201d (a relative sleeper at 28,000 views), he points out that when a brand says its products are \u201cclinically tested\u201d or \u201cscientifically proven,\u201d it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that those findings were unbiased or peer reviewed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA lot of content creators will post science videos or news stories, but it\u2019s really clickbait,\u201d observes Dombrowski, who also has more than 47,000 followers on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cI definitely have a passion for this stuff. I also think I\u2019m pretty good at making more complex biological concepts understandable and accessible to a lay audience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dombrowski is a veteran by TikTok standards: he\u2019s been posting since September 2019, during his first semester on the Hill. He hit it big from the start, with his first video\u2014a salty reflection on his Georgia high school that\u2019s decidedly \u201cnot safe for work\u201d\u2014garnering 1.3 million views. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The following winter, he was featured in Time<\/em> magazine<\/a> online, under the headline \u201cMarine Biology Student Goes Viral with Ocean Factoids that Will Stoke Your Fears of the Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to his own social, Dombrowski helped launch the Cornell Insect Collection\u2019s TikTok<\/a>, working on it as an independent study project in science communication. As collection director Corrie Moreau<\/a> marvels, he shepherded it from zero followers to more than 122,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"J.C.](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/2022_1287_NH_028-A-1024x576.jpg\")