Forestry expert · Nature-tech product lead
Strategy and implementation for carbon, agroforestry, biochar and blue carbon projects — from pre-feasibility to scaling, community building, fundraising and the digital MRV systems to back it all up.
About
I work at the intersection of strategy and implementation — bridging the gap between climate finance in the Global North and field reality in the Global South. Seven years of building community, scaling nature-tech platforms, and fundraising for restoration impact across mangroves, agroforestry, biochar and beyond.
I started by volunteering for a year at an Indigenous tree nursery in the Philippines, then managed a 1,200-farmer agroforestry program in Kalimantan with Fairventures. At ETH Zurich's Crowther Lab I co-shaped Restor and grew its practitioner community from zero to 8,500 users in three years. I co-founded GainForest to pilot blockchain-based rewards for verified nature impact — including mangrove and blue carbon projects. Over the years, I've built a deep network across the nature restoration space: investors, funders, policymakers, scientists and field teams across East Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
That's the gap I close for clients: strategy that holds up in boardrooms, implementation that works in the field, and the community, network and fundraising chops to connect the two.
Field experience across 11 countries
Gallery
Services
Scoping a carbon project? Scaling a nature-tech platform? Figuring out if AI can actually help your field team? Pick your lane.
Pre-feasibility, PDDs, MRV plans, and credit pathway strategy. Specialized in smallholder-inclusive ARR, agroforestry and biochar projects.
Agroforestry and regenerative land-use programs that work for farmers and funders. Built on seven years of field experience across ten countries.
Digital MRV system design, geospatial tool selection, and product strategy for climate-tech platforms. I bridge engineering teams and field reality.
From identifying where AI actually helps to building your team's confidence to use it. Two tracks: strategy and hands-on capability.
How I work
Portfolio
treeo.one
Origin team · Concept & Prototype
Won the Google Impact Challenge Germany 2018. Designed the original concept, built the prototype, and led the start-up inception phase at Fairventures Worldwide — before it was spun out and branded as TREEO. Full exposure to local contexts while integrating solutions into international frameworks (donors, corporate, compliance).
Visit treeo.one →
restor.eco
Community Engagement Officer · Product
Grew the global restoration practitioner community from 0 to 8,500 in three years. Built the platform with Google as technology partner — connecting developers, scientists and field users to shape use cases that actually work on the ground.
Visit restor.eco →
maps.gainforest.app
Co-creator, Product & Community
Conceptualized and deployed a dMRV system with community projects. Designed the platform, facilitated Web3 payments to communities worldwide for nature stewardship evidenced by hard data collection. Built community tools and organized a 150-person AI-and-environment conference.
Visit GainForest →Built and led work at:
Testimonials
“Lookfar greatly appreciated the opportunity to work with Simeon to help us build up our AI capabilities in support of our biodiversity conservation mission. Simeon shared his extensive technical and practical knowledge with us in a way that was clear, organized, and actionable — a great way to start our AI journey. We look forward to working with Simeon again in the future.”
“Simeon joined us as we began integrating trees into our organic cereal and poverty reduction programming. He’s deeply attuned to our needs and capacities, integrates seamlessly into our German-Ugandan team, and helps us move climate solution strategies from idea to implementation. He’s honest about what works and what doesn’t, has a sharp sense for where the field is moving, and tells us what we don’t want to hear when we need to hear it. We continue to rely on him.”
Blog
Can carbon finance help pay for a smallholder agroforestry programme — and if so, how?
Read case study →GainForest
Read on LinkedIn →Agroforestry
Read on LinkedIn →Restor
Coming soon