He started his career in 1978 at Lucknow University supervised by Dharani Dhar Awasthi, Father of Indian Lichenology. After earning his PhD, he worked as a Research Associate and in 1988, he joined CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute as Scientist-B and lead the Lichen Lab. He has superannuated from his service in January 2017. During this tenure, he published more than 60 research articles (including book chapters). He revised the lichen family Cladoniaceae during his doctoral degree. He has described 98 novel species.[2] He has produced more than 35 PhD students, his students have worked in all the aspects of lichens with 400 research articles. He has revised the lichen families such as Pyrenulaceae, Graphidaceae, Teloschistaceae, Lecanoraceae, Parmeliaceae, Usneaceae, etc. Recently, Dr. Upreti received FNASc during the year 2013 for his notable service in the field of Lichenology.[4] Pradeep Kumar Divakar is his first PhD student, who is one of the world's renowned Lichenologists. Dr.Upreti is serving as president of Indian Lichenological Society.[5]
The Janaki Ammal National Award in Plant Taxonomy for the year 2015 was given to Dr. Dalip Kumar Upreti for his work over the last three decades, leading to the establishment of more than 100 new species of lichen to the world and more than 200 species as new records to the lichen flora of India.[6] He has also received Prof. Bashir Ahmad Razi Medal -2006) of Association for Plant Taxonomy (APT).[7]
Eponymy
Several lichen species have been named after Upreti in recognition of his contributions in the field of lichen taxonomy.
Shukla V., Upreti D.K. and Bajpai R. Lichens to biomonitors the environment. Springer, Heidelberg New York printed at Netherlands, 2013.[16]
Nayaka S. and Upreti D.K. Lichens of Uttar Pradesh. Shivam press, Lucknow and Uttar Pradesh Biodiversity Board, Lucknow, 2013.
Rai H and Upreti D.K. Terricolous lichens in India. Volume I & II. Diversity pattern and distribution ecology. Springer Verlag, 2013 ISBN978-1-4614-8735-7.[17]
Bajpai R. and Upreti D. K. Lichens on Indian monuments: Biodeterioration and Biomonitoring. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun. 2014, ISBN978-81-211-0856-0
Upreti D.K., Divakar P.K., Shukla V. Bajpai R. Recent advances in lichenology. Vol I and II, Springer, Heidelberg New York printed at Netherlands, 2015.[18]
Mishra GK, Upreti DK. Lichens flora of Kumaun Himalaya. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany, pp 621, 2015[19]
^Divakar, P. K.; Upreti, D. K. (2003). "New species and new records of Parmotrema (Parmeliaceae) from India". The Lichenologist. 35: 21–26. doi:10.1006/lich.2002.0426. S2CID86245024.
^Joshi, Yogesh; Upadhyay, Shashi; Chandra, Krishna (2014). "Heterodermia upretii, a new species from India (Physciaceae, Ascomycota)". Phytotaxa. 175 (2): 117. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.175.2.7.
^Aptroot, André; Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia da Silva (25 January 2018). "Coenogonium upretianum (Ascomycota: Coenogoniaceae), a new corticolous lichen species from Brazil". Cryptogam Biodiversity and Assessment (1). doi:10.21756/cab.v3i01.13386 (inactive 5 November 2024). ISSN2456-0251.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
^Joshi, Santosh; Upreti, Dalip K.; Divakar, Pradeep K.; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten; Lücking, Robert (2018). "A re-evaluation of thelotremoid Graphidaceae (lichenized Ascomycota: Ostropales) in India". The Lichenologist. 50 (6): 627–678. doi:10.1017/s0024282918000439. S2CID92498019.
^K.G. Mukerji; B.P. Chamola; D.K. Upreti; Rajeev K. Upadhyay, eds. (1999). Biology of lichens (1st ed.). New Delhi: Aravali Books International. ISBN81-86880-33-X. OCLC43992767.