Indian lichenologist. Dharani Awasthi studied at Lucknow University, where he gained his PhD in 1947. From 1952 he was a lecturer at the same university. He later obtained a further PhD at the University of Colorado, Boulder (1963).

Since the 1940s Awasthi's main focus has been the lichens of the Indian subcontinent, on which he has produced about 40 separate publications. A leading light in Indian lichenology, he has stimulated a great increase in research in this area. When he first began his research, very little was known about the lichen flora of India and most type specimens were held in European herbaria. Awasthi has made particular progress in making information available for students in his home country and building up a comprehensive herbarium. Among his publications are A Handbook of Lichens (2000) and A Compendium of the Macrolichens from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka (2007). He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and was the recipient of the Acharius Medal of the International Association for Lichenology in 1992.

Sources:
P Wolseley, 2008, The Lichenologist, 40: 267
I. Yoshimura, "Acharius Medalists: Dharani Awasthi", International Association for Lichenology:
http://www.lichenology.org/Awards/Acharius_Awasthi.html, accessed 11 February 2011.