Popular TikTok creator Nate Spada, known for his humorous and educational lumpfish videos, has partnered with Nautilus Ocean as a TikTok Correspondent.
Not straying far from his father’s career as a commercial fisherman, Spada pursued a Masters in Marine, Estuarine, and Freshwater biology at the University of New Hampshire, where he was a student researcher and investigator at the university’s wet lab. At the start of the pandemic, Spada used TikTok to document the marine life he encountered.
In the wet lab, Spada created witty videos that introduced millions of TikTok users to the creatures he encountered, notably including the lumpfish.
@spadaniel44 THANK YOU FOR 100k!!! #fyp #foryoupage #foryoupageofficiall #trending #viral #fish #lumpfish #GetTheLook #science #cool #research #fisharmy #funny ♬ original sound – Nate Spada
Unknowingly, these humorous and informative videos would launch him, and the lumpfish he documented, into virality. Soon after, the New York Times would deem him a “part-time lumpfish influencer.”
Despite the presence he has created, Spada does not see himself as an influencer, but rather an educator, using TikTok to make his research accessible. “A lot of young people are on TikTok. If we can influence these folks––and older folks as well––to care about our oceans, then we have a brighter future,” he told Nautilus.
‘Nate’s doing on TikTok what we’re doing in writing–making scientific discovery accessible. Never dry, so to speak.’
Currently, he is doing that very educating with his work at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. While aboard research cruises to Alaska, Spada and colleagues observe algae blooms and the harmful effects they can inflict on other life forms within ecosystems. When he isn’t working, Spada finds time to create TikToks that accessibly educate TikTok users about this algal acceleration.
It is these efforts toward creating accessible and entertaining science content that makes him the ideal partner for Nautilus. As a TikTok correspondent, Spada will post video reports on his oceanic endeavors in real time, covering ecological observations from otherworldly eels and majestic mammals to sunsets over the Bering Strait.
As Nautilus is a brand under Fragment Media Group, this initiative is one of many which stem from Fragment’s larger efforts of empowering communities. It is Spada’s emphasis on scientific accessibility that makes for the ideal partnership with Fragment.
David Flynn, Fragment’s Group Publisher, feels Spada’s unique perspective is ideal for Nautilus and Fragment Media Group. “We couldn’t have designed a better TikTok creator for Nautilus than Nate. He helps people see the ocean through the eyes of a scientist, and just how fun that can be. Nate’s doing on TikTok what we’re doing in writing–making scientific discovery accessible. Never dry, so to speak.”
