Research Interests

• Structural elucidation and spatial arrangement of wood and plant cell wall polymers
• Analytical approaches to quantify structural changes to lignin and polysaccharides
• Structural analyses of wood decayed by fungi
• Delineating the reactivity of wood adhesives in the wood cell wall
• Synthesis of wood cell wall model compounds/polymers

Education

• University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, Ph.D. Forestry/Chemistry 2009
• University of Maine, Orono, ME, M.S. Wood Science 2001
• University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, B.S. Wood Science/Chemistry 1998

Professional Organizations

• Forest Products Journal, Associate Editor (2010 - Current)
• American Chemical Society, Member (2005 - Current)
• Forest Products Society, Member (1995 - Current)

Awards & Recognition

Featured Publications & Products

• Jakes, Joseph E.; Hunt, Christopher G.; Yelle, Daniel J.; Lorenz, Linda; Hirth, Kolby; Gleber, Sophie-Charlotte; Vogt, Stefan; Grigsby, Warren; Frihart, Charles R. 2015. Synchrotron-based X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy in Conjunction with Nanoindentation to Study Molecular-Scale Interactions of Phenol Formaldehyde in Wood Cell Walls.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Kapich, Alexander N.; Houtman, Carl J.; Lu, Fachuang; Timokhin, Vitaliy I.; Fort Jr., Raymond C.; Ralph, John; Hammel, Kenneth E. 2014. A Highly Diastereoselective Oxidant Contributes to Ligninolysis by the White Rot Basidiomycete Ceriporiopsis subvermispora.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Wei, Dongsheng; Ralph, John; Hammel, Kenneth E. 2011. Multidimensional NMR analysis reveals truncated lignin structures in wood decayed by the brown rot basidiomycete Postia placenta.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Kaparaju, Prasad; Hunt, Christopher G.; Hirth, Kolby; Kim, Hoon; Ralph, John; Felby, Claus. 2012. Two-Dimensional NMR Evidence for Cleavage of Lignin and Xylan Substituents in Wheat Straw Through Hydrothermal Pretreatment and Enzymatic Hydrolysis.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Ralph, John; Frihart, Charles R. 2008. Characterization of nonderivatized plant cell walls using high-resolution solution-state NMR spectroscopy.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Ralph, John; Lu, Fachuang; Hammel, Kenneth E. 2008. Evidence for cleavage of lignin by a brown rot basidiomycete.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Ralph, John; Frihart, Charles R. 2011. Delineating pMDI model reactions with loblolly pine via solution-state NMR spectroscopy. Part 1, Catalyzed reactions with wood models and wood polymers.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Ralph, John; Frihart, Charles R. 2011. Delineating pMDI model reactions with loblolly pine via solution-state NMR spectroscopy. Part 2, Non-catalyzed reactions with the wood cell wall.
• Sathitsuksanoh, Noppadon; Holtman, Kevin M.; Yelle, Daniel J.; Morgan, Trevor; Stavila, Vitalie; Pelton, Jeffrey; Blanch, Harvey; Simmons, Blake A.; George, Anthe. 2014. Lignin fate and characterization during ionic liquid biomass pretreatment for renewable chemicals and fuels production.
• Cruz, Florentino B. De la; Yelle, Daniel J.; Gracz, Hanna S.; Barlaz, Morton A. 2014. Chemical Changes during Anaerobic Decomposition of Hardwood, Softwood, and Old Newsprint under Mesophilic and Thermophilic Conditions.

Publications

• Hunt, Christopher G.; Zelinka, Samuel L.; Frihart, Charles R.; Lorenz, Linda ; Yelle, Daniel ; Gleber, Sophie-Charlotte ; Vogt, Stefan ; Jakes, Joseph E. 2018. Acetylation increases relative humidity threshold for ion transport in wood cell walls a means to understanding decay resistance.
• Li, Hongjie ; Yelle, Daniel J.; Ralph, John ; Currie, Cameron R.; Mo, Jianchu . 2018. Characterizing lignin in a fungus-cultivating termite.
• Jakes, Joseph E.; Frihart, Charles R.; Hunt, Christopher G.; Yelle, Daniel J.; Plaza, Nayomi Z.; Lorenz, Linda ; Grigsby, Warren ; Ching, Daniel J.; Kamke, Fred ; Gleber, Sophie-Charlotte ; Vogt, Stefan ; Xiao, Xianghui . 2018. X-ray methods to observe and quantify adhesive penetration into wood.
• Jakes, Joseph E.; Frihart, Charles R.; Hunt, Christopher G.;  Yelle, Daniel J.; Plaza, Nayomi ; Lorenz, Linda ; Ching, Daniel J. 2017. Integrating multi-scale studies of adhesive penetration into wood.
• Li, Hongjie; Yelle, Daniel J.; Li, Chang; Yang, Mengyi; Ke, Jing; Zhang, Ruijuan; Liu, Yu; Zhu, Na; Liang, Shiyou; Mo, Xiaochang; Ralph, John; Currie, Cameron R.; Mo, Jianchu. 2017. Lignocellulose pretreatment in a fungus-cultivating termite.
• Chen, Liheng; Dou, Jinze; Ma, Qianli; Li, Ning; Wu, Ruchun; Bian, Huiyang; Yelle, Daniel J.; Vuorinen, Tapani; Fu, Shiyu; Pan, Xuejun; Zhu, Junyong (J.Y.). 2017. Rapid and near-complete dissolution of wood lignin at 80 C by a recyclable acid hydrotrope.
• Plaza, Nayomi Z.; Jakes, Joseph E.; Frihart, Charles R.; Hunt, Christopher G.; Yelle, Daniel J.; Lorenz, Linda F. 2017. Small angle neutron scattering as a tool to evaluate moisture-induced swelling in the nanostructure of chemically modified wood cell walls.
• Yelle, Daniel J. 2017. Solution-state NMR analysis of hydroxymethylated resorcinol cured in the presence of crude milled-wood lignin from Acer saccharum.
• Yelle, Daniel J. 2016. Bondability of ip (Tabebuia spp.) wood using ambient-curing exterior wood adhesives.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Ralph, John. 2016. Characterizing phenolformaldehyde adhesive cure chemistry within the wood cell wall.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Stirgus, Ashley M. 2016. Influence of anatomical, physical, and mechanical properties of diffuse-porous hardwoods on moisture durability of bonded assemblies.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Ralph, John. 2016. Phenol-formaldehyde reactivity with lignin in the wood cell wall.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Ralph, John. 2016. Simultaneous bond degradation and bond formation during phenol-formaldehyde curing with wood.
• Stark, Nicole M.; Yelle, Daniel J.; Agarwal, Umesh P. 2016. Techniques for characterizing lignin.
• Frihart, Charles R.; Yelle, Daniel J.; Ibach, Rebecca E. 2015. Wood properties influence bond durability.
• Yelle, Daniel J. 2013. Elucidating How Wood Adhesives Bond to Wood Cell Walls using High-Resolution Solution-State NMR Spectroscopy.
• Zelinka, Samuel L.; Lambrecht, Michael J.; Glass, Samuel V.; Wiedenhoeft, Alex C.; Yelle, Daniel J. 2012. Examination of water phase transitions in Loblolly pine and cell wall components by differential scanning calorimetry.
• Talbot, Jennifer M.; Yelle, Daniel J.; Nowick, James; Treseder, Kathleen K. 2011. Litter decay rates are determined by lignin chemistry.
• Karaaslan, Muzaffer Ahmet; Tshabalala, Mandla A.; Yelle, Daniel J.; Buschle-Diller, Gisela. 2011. Nanoreinforced biocompatible hydrogels from wood hemicelluloses and cellulose whiskers.
• Jakes, Joseph E.; Yelle, Daniel J.; Frihart, Charles R. 2011. Tools to Understand Structural Property Relationships for Wood Cell Walls.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Jakes, Joseph E.; Ralph, John; Frihart, Charles R. 2010. Characterizing polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate reactions with wood. 1, High-resolution solution-state NMR spectroscopy.
• Jakes, J.E.; Yelle, D.Y.; Beecher, J.F.; Frihart, C.R.; Stone, D.S. 2010. Characterizing polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate reactions with wood. 2, Nano-indentation.
• Yelle, Daniel Joseph. 2009. A solution-state NMR approach to elucidating pMDI-wood bonding mechanisms in loblolly pine.
• Ralph, John; Lu, Fachuang; Kim, Hoon; Ress, Dino; Yelle, Daniel J.; Hammel, Kenneth E.; Ralph, Sally A.; Nanayakkara, Bernadette; Wagner, Armin; Akiyama, Takuya; Schatz, Paul F.; Mansfield, Shawn D.; Terashima, Noritsugu; Boerjan, Wout; Sundberg, Bjorn; Hedenstrom, Mattias. 2009. High-resolution solution-state NMR of unfractionated plant cell walls.
• Yelle, Daniel J.; Ralph, John; Frihart, Charles R. 2009. Investigating the reactivity of pMDI with wood cell walls using high-resolution solution-state NMR spectroscopy.
• Frihart, Charles R.; Yelle, Daniel J.; Ralph, John; Moon, Robert J.; Stone, Donald S.; Jakes, Joseph E. 2008. Enhanced understanding of the relationship between chemical modification and mechanical properties of wood.
• Frihart, Charles R.; Yelle, Daniel J.; Wiedenhoeft, Alex C. 2008. What does moisture-related durability of wood bonds mean.

Research Highlights

Highlight	Title	Year
FPL-2010-025	Elucidating Covalent Bond Formation and Cleavage in Wood Working with a group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Biochemistry, FPL researchers have discovered mechanistic details beh ...	2010
FPL-2011-05	Elucidating Covalent Bond Formation and Cleavage in Wood A new technique has been developed to monitor structural changes in the polymers present in wood cell walls. This allows researchers, for exampl ...	2011