[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 16, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1290]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNITION OF GOLDEN GOOSE AWARD RECIPIENT, DR. CHRISTOPHER SMALL

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                            HON. MARK POCAN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 16, 2015

  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Golden Goose 
Award, which recognizes researchers whose federally funded research has 
returned significant benefits to society.
  In particular, I rise to celebrate one of this year's Golden Goose 
Awardees and fellow alum of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in my 
district: Dr. Christopher Small. With funding from the National Science 
Foundation, Dr. Small, an earth scientist, and his colleague, Dr. Joel 
E. Cohen, a mathematical population biologist, pursued what seemed like 
a simple curiosity: how many people live at any given altitude on 
Earth? The result was the first global map of how the human population 
is distributed in altitude--an important factor in our exposure to 
risk, our human health and even how computers function.
  While Drs. Small and Cohen were particularly interested in 
populations near coastlines, where they are at risk from natural 
disasters and sea-level rise, companies like Intel, Proctor & Gamble, 
and Frito-Lay have all consulted with them about populations at high 
altitudes. In fact, Dr. Small got what he calls the ``biggest surprise 
of [his] scientific career'' when he received a phone call from Frito-
Lay representatives, interested to learning if there was a sufficient 
high altitude market to justify designing packaging that could sustain 
large differences in pressure from sea level up to the Rockies or the 
Himalayas.
  Beyond working with industry to examine the potential of high 
altitude markets, the two have worked with biomedical researchers and 
public health professionals to help them understand the magnitude of 
altitude-related impacts on human health.
  Without federal support, Drs. Small and Cohen may never have had the 
incentive to pursue their curiosity and develop game-changing insights 
into how the human population is distributed--insights that inform 
everything from microchip manufacturing to food production and 
packaging and from biomedical research to the treatment of human 
disease.
  I rise today to congratulate my fellow Badger in receiving this 
important recognition and applaud those supporting the Golden Goose 
Award which continues to highlight the importance of federal 
investments in research. These investments help grow our economy and 
improve the quality of our life and future generations.

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