A national of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Heileman has over 20 years experience in the environment arena focusing on environmental management, programme coordination and environmental assessment.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Heileman was on secondment from UN Environment to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) where he held the position of the United Nations Resident Coordinator, and UNDP and UNFPA Resident Representative in the Comoros. He has previously also served as the UNDP Resident Representative a.i in Angola and before that as the United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Equatorial Guinea.
His first appointment with UN Environment was with the Division of Regional Cooperation (DRC) in Mexico City from 1992 as a Programme Coordinator for the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean and with DRC in Nairobi. Thereafter, Mr. Heileman worked at the UNEP's Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, in Paris where he held various senior programme positions with the Montreal Protocol programme and the Sustainable Consumption and Production programme.
Before joining UN Environment, Mr. Heileman worked in Trinidad and Tobago as a Senior Environment Officer with the national Oil Company and with the Institute of Marine Affairs as a Senior Research Officer.
Mr. Heileman holds a Masters degree in Environmental Pollution Control and Operations Research, a Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences and Postgraduate Diplomas in Marine Pollution Chemistry and also in Management Studies.
