Vertika Shukla is M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry and Ph.D. (2003) in Chemistry of lichens from H.N.B. Garhwal University, Srinagar (Garhwal). Presently, she is working on Indian lichens for monitoring environmental pollution. Dr. Shukla has 10 years of post doctoral research experience in the field of lichenology and already completed two post doc fellowships awarded by Department of Science and Technology (DST, New Delhi) and till now she has published 41 scientific articles. Dr. Shukla contributed much on secondary metabolite chemistry, interaction of lichens with the environment, spatio-temporal behaviour of pollutants and role of lichens in bioremediation of atmospheric fallouts. Rajesh Bajpai is M.Sc. in Environmental Science and Ph.D. in 2009 from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (Central) University, Lucknow, is working as DST- Scientist in Lichenology Laboratory of CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow. Dr. Bajpai has published 20 research papers in various national and international journals on accumulation of different metals including arsenic. Dr. Bajpai has carried out extensive research work on the interaction of lichen with the environment and arsenic pollution, role of lichens in phytoremediation and biodeterioration. D.K. Upreti, Head of Lichenology Laboratory, National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, is Ph.D. (1983) in Botany from Lucknow University under the guidance of Dr. D.D. Awasthi. Dr. Upreti has 30 years of research experience and has published more than 250 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and coauthored three books. Apart from taxonomy, Dr. Upreti has also carried out extensive research on ecology, lichen chemistry, pollution monitoring, in vitro culture and biodeterioration studies of Indian lichens. Dr. Upreti had been to Antarctica in 1991–1992 and is also the member of steering committee of CSIR for Antarctic Researches. He is the Indian corresponding member to British Lichen Society and International Association for Lichenology.
