Dan Ridley-Ellis
Dan Ridley Ellis

Dr Dan Ridley-Ellis BEng MRes PhD FIMMM

Associate Professor

 0131 455 2449

  D.Ridley-Ellis@napier.ac.uk

   

Biography

Dan Ridley-Ellis is head of the Centre Wood Science and Technology at Edinburgh Napier University. He is one of the UK’s technical experts on guessing the strength of wood and can talk for hours on the topic – which he frequently does if nobody stops him.

His main area of research is understanding the properties of wood, and how they are influenced by tree growth, forest management, and climate. He represents the UK at European Standards Committees for grading of construction timber, and the majority of structural sawn timber produced in the UK is now graded with settings he developed. He was named “woodland hero” for 2016 by Grown in Britain, and is also active in online learning, public engagement and science communication. He was the lead organiser of Bright Club Edinburgh from 2011 to 2023.

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Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Expert witness (materials)
  • Timber in Construction Working Group (DEFRA etc)
  • Invited speaker at All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Forestry and Tree Planting
  • CSIC Innovation Champion
  • Judge, Structural Timber Awards 2019
  • Leader, CEN TC124 (Timber Structures) WG 2 TG1 (Task Group for grading and strength properties)
  • Judge, Structural Timber Awards 2018
  • Member - Scottish Forestry and Timber Technologies Skills Group
  • Advisory Board Member of TRADA
  • Secretary, CEN TC124 (Timber Structures) WG 2 TG1 (Task Group for grading and strength properties)
  • Member, CEN TC124 (Timber Structures) WG 2 TG1 (Task Group for grading and strength properties)
  • Member, CEN TC124 (Timber Structures) WG 2 (Solid Timber)
  • Member, British Standards Committee B/518
  • Member of the Board of the Wood Technology Society (IOM3)
  • Member, CEN TC124 (Timber Structures) WG 1 (Test methods)
  • Northern UK representative for the Northern European Network for Wood Science & Engineering
  • Member, UK Timber Grading Committee

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Local organising committee member for 2DCOS-11
  • COST Actions

 

Editorial Activity

  • Editorial board member of the European Journal of Wood and Wood Products
  • Editorial board member of the International Wood Products Journal

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External validator for London Metropolitan University
  • External validator for Technological University Dublin

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Scottish Forestry, Sir George Campbell Memorial Trophy
  • Edinburgh Beltane Public Engagement Fellow
  • FIMMM
  • Grown in Britain Woodland Hero
  • Queens Anniversary Prize 2015

 

Invited Speaker

  • Scottish Association for Metals
  • Invited speaker at ICF Innovation for Change Webinar
  • Guest lecturing at Hooke Park
  • Guest lecturing at Ecole Supérieure du Bois (France)
  • Royal Forestry Society's Lawrence Pilling Memorial Lecture

 

Media Activity

  • Quoted in Chemistry World news article
  • Interviewed on 2ser radio (Sydney, Australia) about Ethiopian tree planting
  • Quoted in news articles worldwide about Ethiopian tree planting
  • Guest on rialtalk podcast
  • Quoted in Chemistry World news article
  • Contributor on BBC World Service programme “The Forum” broadcast on 19 January 2015.
  • have discussed Bright Club live on BBC Radio Scotland’s Comedy Café (29 July 2011) and in pre-recorded interview on BBC Radio Scotland's "Good Morning Scotland" (14 November 2012). Performed live on BBC Radio Scotland's MacAulay and Co (25 May 2012).
  • BBC Bang Goes The Theory “Ask Yan” expert 2009/10

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Invited speaker at Lantra VirtRural careers event
  • Engineering Showoff Performer
  • STEM ambassador
  • Main organiser/trainer of Bright Club Edinburgh and Bright Club Scotland (in which academics do stand-up comedy).

 

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171 results

Online learning for the forest and timber industries.

Conference Proceeding
Ridley-Ellis, D., Nolte, S. & Condon, P. (2007)
Online learning for the forest and timber industries. In 10th World Conference on Timber Engineering 2008, 461-469. ISBN 9781615670888
Online learning offers advantages for all levels of training and development in the timber industries, from new recruits at technician level to chartered professionals. Learne...

3D lattice model for post-yield and fracture behaviour of timber.

Journal Article
Reichert, T. & Ridley-Ellis, D. (2008)
3D lattice model for post-yield and fracture behaviour of timber. Timber Engineering
The paper describes the development of a bespoke Finite Element program to model timber with a three dimensional lattice of single spring elements. These springs mimic meso-sc...

Promoting the science and engineering of timber to children.

Journal Article
Ridley-Ellis, D. (2008)
Promoting the science and engineering of timber to children. Timber Engineering
The UK’s young people are generally very poorly informed about the opportunities that exist for them in wood science and timber engineering, and commonly perceive the sector t...

Strength grading and the end user – lessons from the SIRT project at Napier University

Conference Proceeding
Ridley-Ellis, D., Moore, J. & Lyon, A. J. (2008)
Strength grading and the end user – lessons from the SIRT project at Napier University
The paper reviews the research that has been undertaken by the Strategic Integrated Research in Timber (SIRT) project at Napier University, with reference to the technologies,...

Acoustic Assessment of Timber from 16th Century Painted Timber Ceilings in Scotland.

Conference Proceeding
Ridley-Ellis, D. & Popescu, C. (2012)
Acoustic Assessment of Timber from 16th Century Painted Timber Ceilings in Scotland

The future of quality control for wood & wood products.

Conference Proceeding
(2010)
The future of quality control for wood & wood products. In Ridley-Ellis, D. & Moore, J. (Eds.). Proceedings of the final conference of COST Action E53ISBN 978-09566187-0-2
The principal aim of the COST Action E53 was to improve methods of quality control in processing round wood and timber to ensure that timber products and components meet the r...

Comparison of acoustic NDT for assessment of small stiffness changes during low temperature thermal treatment.

Conference Proceeding
Ridley-Ellis, D., Keating, B. A. & Popescu, C. (2013)
Comparison of acoustic NDT for assessment of small stiffness changes during low temperature thermal treatment. In Popescu, C. & Popescu, M. (Eds.). FP0904 conference ‘Evaluation, processing and prediction of THM treated wood behaviour by experimental and numerical methods’ISBN 978-973-702-990-4

Properties of UK-Grown Sitka Spruce: Extent and Sources of Variation.

Journal Article
Moore, J., Lyon, A. J., Ridley-Ellis, D. & Gardiner, B. A. (2008)
Properties of UK-Grown Sitka Spruce: Extent and Sources of Variation. Timber Engineering
Structural timber produced from Sitka spruce plantations in the UK typically achieves the requirements for the C16 strength class. However, very little is known about the vari...

Strategic Integrated Research in Timber: Getting the most out of the UK's timber resource.

Journal Article
Ridley-Ellis, D., Moore, J., Lyon, A. J., Searles, G. J. & Gardiner, B. A. (2009)
Strategic Integrated Research in Timber: Getting the most out of the UK's timber resource. Non-conventional Materials and Technologies
Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is the United Kingdom’s main commercial tree species accounting for nearly one-third of the UK's total woodland area and half of its conifer es...

Geometric Non-Linear Behaviour of Single Shear Bolted Joints.

Journal Article
Reichert, T. & Ridley-Ellis, D. (2006)
Geometric Non-Linear Behaviour of Single Shear Bolted Joints. Timber Engineering
Findings are presented of the first stage of an investigation of second-order effects that influence the resistance and stiffness of single shear bolted joints. These effects ...

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