HUBBARD’S MAN: It’s been a tough year...

HUBBARD’S MAN: It’s been a tough year for Kenyan wildlife conservationist Richard Leakey, who speaks at UC Irvine at 7:30 tonight. He lost parts of both legs in a plane crash last June, and has offered his resignation as head of the Kenya Wildlife Service amid political infighting. . . . But good news: He recently won the National Geographic Society’s prestigious Hubbard Medal for exploration, discovery and research. Among the previous recipients: his parents, famed fossil-hunters Louis and Mary Leakey.

BIPARTISAN AROMA: Who says those folks at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace aren’t fair to Democrats? When White House assistant curator Beth Monkman lectured Tuesday, they ordered up the same lunch she says Bill and Hillary Clinton served to the prime minister of Japan. If you worry whether they eat well on Pennsylvania Avenue: Endive salad with warm shrimp and scallops, prime veal, roasted potatoes, baby vegetables, plus apple, mango and sour cherry strudel. With custard sauce, of course.

CHIEF DIPLOMAT: Gayle Anderson is talking up Orange County around the globe. Recent stops for the county’s chief of protocol include trips to China, Cyprus, Israel and Egypt--not at taxpayers’ expense--to spread the word about Orange County businesses. She even arranged a successful audition of a Russian operatic vocalist. . . . “I never know who I’m going to meet,” she says about the job. Saturday, she’s back home for the 10th annual Protocol Ball in Newport Beach.

FULL CIRCLE: If you’re from Cypress College, get ready for a group hug today. A big one. . . . Campus officials have asked students, faculty and staff to gather near the duck ponds at 10 a.m. for a 360-degree photograph to include everyone, plus the campus. Noted Irvine photographer Kornelius Schorle will turn the shot into a 50-foot color print, to be displayed somewhere on campus. And should it rain? Says a spokeswoman: “We just won’t let that happen.”