Environmental consultant Nick Popovich has helped Wisconsin safeguard its watershed areas, Nepal develop its ecotourism industry and the Center for Coastal Studies on Cape Cod create an environmental education program. Now, he's ready for Englewood.

"I want to protect this little green oasis," says Popovich of Flat Rock Brook Nature Center, 150 acres located along the Palisades' western slope with a visitors' center, picnic area and self-guided trails through wetlands, meadows and woodland.

Popovich, 47, was appointed director of the center in August, charged with expanding the scope of its mission beyond its boundaries and original preservation and educational goals. He was chosen, says center Board President Richard Segall, based on his wide experience in helping environmental organizations to define their missions. Segall anticipates that the Board of Trustees and Popovich will clarify the center's new and broader purpose by the end of the year, with input from its 1,000 members.

In the meantime, Popovich - who says his love of nature was nurtured by the Algonquin relatives he spent much of his childhood with in Newfoundland - plans to research the native and nonnative plants growing on the center's grounds. He wants to weed out the nonnative plants and replace them with indigenous New Jersey forest species such as blueberries and cranberries. He's also interested in installing a Web cam, which would enable senior citizens and people with special needs who cannot visit the center to see the sights he cherishes from his apartment above the visitors' center: moonlight on the pond, deer stepping out of the forest at night, woodchucks nibbling on the nasturtiums in the garden.

Popovich, who worked with unreleasable raptors in his last position, is also looking for volunteers to help reinstate Flat Rock Brook's raptor program.

Flat Rock Brook Nature Center, 443 Van Nostrand Ave., offers nature hikes and programs for children and adults. Trails are open daily, dawn to dusk. For hours and other information visit www.flatrockbrook.org or call 201-567-1265.