Simonas Valatka

Operating as a Top-Rated Spatial Analyst and Web GIS Developer executing 250+ global GIS, remote sensing, and mapping initiatives for institutional clients.

Principal Geospatial Consultant & Senior Analyst (Independent Practice) at Freelance / Geospatial Consulting (2016 – Present)

Operating as a Top-Rated Spatial Analyst and Web GIS Developer on Upwork, executing 250+ global GIS, remote sensing, and mapping initiatives for institutional clients.

• Executed independent consulting operations, delivering advanced, data-driven spatial solutions for private corporations, research groups, NGOs, and global government institutions spanning the US, UK, Australia, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
• Conducted institutional business analysis by mapping operational spatial workflows and translating complex user requirements and environmental data into precise technical user stories for Web-GIS development.
• Deployed advanced spatial statistics including Hot Spot Analysis (Getis-Ord Gi*), Space-Time Cube Analysis, and Cluster Analysis to model and identify critical ecological and environmental trends across distinct spatial and temporal scales.
• Automated complex raster mathematics and vector data geoprocessing algorithms by developing custom processing pipelines inside Google Colab and ArcGIS Notebooks via AI-assisted script generation.
• Structured and maintained comprehensive Esri File Geodatabases (FGDB) to ingest, format, and validate multi-source spatial layers (Vector Shapefiles, GeoJSON, Raster GeoTIFFs) while enforcing strict schema integrity.
• Modeled urban development and population distribution by ingesting and analyzing multi-temporal Copernicus Earth Observation satellite datasets, specifically integrating Global Human Settlement Layers and CORINE Land Cover (CLC).
• Engineered interactive institutional dashboards and web maps using CARTO and ArcGIS Online, deploying targeted Spatial SQL queries to filter, transform, and stream responsive spatial metrics to end-users.
• Generated location intelligence and high-impact geographic visualizations to translate complex spatial trends into accessible narratives for non-technical stakeholders
• Executed high-resolution terrain and hydrological modeling pipelines, delivering flood risk assessments for 50+ properties, establishing watershed delineation schemas, and structuring a viewshed visibility framework tracking a 600-tower forest fire detection network.
• Mapped structural river obstacles restricting sediment transport and lateral connectivity by processing high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data and advanced geostatistics, directly supporting baseline tracking for Article 9 of the EU Nature Restoration Law within the LIFE Integrated Project framework.
• Applied advanced spatial statistics and terrain modeling to evaluate terrestrial ecosystems, transforming raw metrics into country-wide maps reflecting the macro-level demand and supply of core ecosystem services to drive the targeted expansion of Lithuania's Protected Area Network under the European Green Deal.
• Directed data-driven restoration analytics to assess ecosystem service shifts, validating the ecological impacts of LIFE+ and EEE-funded wetland initiatives, and co-authored a comprehensive baseline study on Lithuanian Peatlands.

Senior Project Manager & GIS Business Analyst at Center for Environmental Policy / HNIT-BALTIC (Dual Institutional Practices) (1998-05 – 2019-12)

A consolidated 21-year track record leading 30+ complex spatial, policy, and infrastructure projects for major institutional clients, including the European Commission, the World Bank, and Ministries in Lithuania, Turkey and Serbia.

• Directed the development of official Flood Hazard Maps, Flood Risk Maps, and comprehensive Flood Risk Management Plans for Lithuania, achieving full statutory compliance with the EU Floods Directive reporting.
• Drafted national compliance frameworks and strategic action plans for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Nitrates Directive in Lithuania, while serving as an international European Commission consultant advancing the RENA framework across Turkey, Serbia, and the Western Balkans.
• Directed the development of Lithuania's National Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), managing multi-stakeholder involvement, complex data quality schemas, metadata metric cataloging, and platform requirements in strict alignment with INSPIRE directives and OGC standards.
• Managed Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) for national investment programs and cross-border infrastructure plans, utilizing desktop GIS spatial analysis to evaluate and mitigate long-term environmental impacts.
• Assessed the environmental footprint of the Lithuania Rural Development Program for the Ministry of Agriculture, systematically tracking biological diversity variances, calculating soil erosion metrics, and mapping High Nature Value (HNV) farming areas.
• Formulated multi-sector Greenhouse Gas (GHG) compliance reporting frameworks across the Energy and Industry sectors to handle statutory national climate reporting for the Lithuanian Ministry of Environment.

Senior Project Manager & GIS Business Analyst

Center for Environmental Policy / HNIT-BALTIC (Dual Institutional Practices) | May 1998 – Dec 2019 | Vilnius / International A consolidated 21-year track record leading 30+ complex spatial, policy, and infrastructure projects for major institutional clients, including the European Commission, the World Bank, and Ministries in Lithuania, Turkey and Serbia.

• Directed the development of official Flood Hazard Maps, Flood Risk Maps, and comprehensive Flood Risk Management Plans for Lithuania, achieving full statutory compliance with the EU Floods Directive reporting.
• Drafted national compliance frameworks and strategic action plans for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Nitrates Directive in Lithuania, while serving as an international European Commission consultant advancing the RENA framework across Turkey, Serbia, and the Western Balkans.
• Directed the development of Lithuania's National Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), managing multi-stakeholder involvement, complex data quality schemas, metadata metric cataloging, and platform requirements in strict alignment with INSPIRE directives and OGC standards.
• Managed Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) for national investment programs and cross-border infrastructure plans, utilizing desktop GIS spatial analysis to evaluate and mitigate long-term environmental impacts.
• Assessed the environmental footprint of the Lithuania Rural Development Program for the Ministry of Agriculture, systematically tracking biological diversity variances, calculating soil erosion metrics, and mapping High Nature Value (HNV) farming areas.
• Formulated multi-sector Greenhouse Gas (GHG) compliance reporting frameworks across the Energy and Industry sectors to handle statutory national climate reporting for the Lithuanian Ministry of Environment.

PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Environmental Focus)

Vytautas Magnus University – Kaunas, Lithuania

M.Sc. in Environmental Biology (International Interdisciplinary Program, Thesis in Marine Ecology)

University of Turku – Turku, Finland

M.Sc. in Biology (Thesis in Limnology / Quantitative Water Systems)

Lund University – Lund, Sweden

B.Sc. in Biology

Vytautas Magnus University – Kaunas, Lithuania