Faculty Profiles

Dr. Rorem and her research students are addressing the ecology and molecular taxonomy of the invasive colonial hydroid, Cordylophora. Current areas of interest are how the physiological adaptability may explain the global distribution of this invasive hydroid and the predatory role this hydroid plays in freshwater systems such as Lake Michigan and the Finger Lakes in New York. Dr. Rorem received this grant: Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant 2006-2008: Alterations of Lake Michigan benthic communities by the invasive hydroid, Cordylophora caspia: effects on fish prey. Nadine C. Folino-Rorem, Wheaton College and Martin B. Berg, Department of Biology, Loyola University Chicago worked in collaboration with John Darling, EPA, Cincinnati, Ohio on this research project: General ecology, invasive history and systematics of Cordylophora spp. They also studied the dynamics of the association of the hydroid, Cordylophora spp. with the dreissenid mussels in freshwater lakes.

University of New Hampshire
Ph.D., 1989

University of New Hampshire
M.S.,1985

University of Cincinnati
B.S.,1980

• Biology
• Taxonomy
• General Ecology
• Physiological Adaptability of Colonial Hydroid

• American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
• North American Benthological Society
• Sigma Xi
• The American Scientific Affiliation
• Xerces Society

* indicates Wheaton students

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Life History Features of the Invasive Hydroid, Cordylophora
Folino-Rorem, Nadine C., Nathan Lee* and Esther Papp*. North American Benthological Society, Providence, RI

Distribution and diet of the invasive Ponto-Caspian hydroid, Cordylophora caspia, in southern Lake Michigan: potential effects on fish prey availability
Folino-Rorem, N.C., M.J. Duggan*, A. Parry Macdonald*, E.K. Mindrebo*, and M.B. Berg. The 57th Annual Meeting of the North American Benthological Society, Grand Rapids,

Population structure of the invasive hydrozoan Cordylophora in the Great Lakes
Darling, L.D. and N.C. Folino-Rorem. 16th International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species

Alterations of Lake Michigan benthic communities by the invasive colonial hydroid Cordylophora caspia: effects on fish prey
COSEE Great Lakes, Lake Michigan Exploration Workshop (for Teachers), Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL, August 2008

Genetic analysis reveals multiple cryptic invasive species of the hydrozoan genus Cordylophora
Darling JA , Folino-Rorem NC, D’Ausilio C *. Annual meeting of the Society of Systematic Biologists, American Society of Naturalists, and the Society for the Study of Evolution, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Ecological impacts of the invasive Ponto-Caspian hydroid Cordylophora in aquatic habitats
Seminar Speaker, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, October 2007

The Impact of the Invasive Ponto-Caspian Hydroid, Cordylophora caspia, on Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities in Southern Lake Michigan: Effects on Fish Prey Availability
Folino-Rorem, Nadine C. and Marty Berg. 15th International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

The impact of the invasive Ponto-Caspian hydroid Cordylophora caspia on macroinvertebrate communities
Lecture at The Finger Lakes Institute, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva NY

Genetic evidence for multiple cryptic introductions of the invasive colonial hydroid Cordylophora spp.
Darling, J. A. and Nadine C. Folino-Rorem. 5th International Conference on Marine Bioinvasions, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA

• Ecology, taxonomy and physiological adaptability of the colonial hydroid, Cordylophora spp.
• Collaborative research with Jim Soteckel (Miami University, Ohio) and Wheaton College undergraduates: Assessing the the association between two invasive species in Lake Michigan, the hydroid, Cordylophora spp. with the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha

• BIOL 241 College Biology I
• BIOL 242 College Biology II
• BIOL 303 Contemporary Issues in Biology
• BIOL 314 Environmental Science
• BIOL 252 Biological Systems
• BIOL 353 Stream Ecology
• BIOL 365 Marine Biology
• BIOL 368 Invertebrate Zoology
• BIOL 494 Senior Capstone

Genetic analysis across different spatial scales reveals multiple dispersal mechanisms for the invasive hydrozoan Cordylophora in the Great Lakes, Molecular Ecology, 2009
John A. Darling and Folino-Rorem, Nadine

Genetic analysis reveals multiple cryptic invasive species of the hydrozoan genus Cordylophora, Biological Invasions, 2009
Folino-Rorem, Nadine, John A. Darling and Cori A. D’Ausilio

Microsatellite loci for the invasive colonial hydrozoan Cordylophora caspia, Molecular Ecology Resources 2008
Schable, Nancy A., Ashley M. Kuenzi, Carrie A. Drake, Nadine C. Folino-Rorem and John A. Darling