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 (ACS), Member (2005 - Current)
• Forest Products Society (FPS), 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-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
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-2018-21	X-Ray Methods to Observe and Quantify Adhesive Penetration into Wood To accelerate development of new and improved wood adhesives for engineered wood products, researchers are working to understand the optimal adh ...	2018