Meteorologist Mark Collins came to The Weather Authority after working in marine research at the Florida Institute of Oceanography. Before his research time, Mark worked for four years at WTSP in Tampa. Mark first came to WJXT in 2010 but started tracking Jacksonville storms on air since 2003. He was in Jacksonville just in time to cover the record 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. Before that he worked in hurricane alley, anchoring weather on Miami's WTVJ and in the weather forecast center at Miami's WFOR. In Tallahassee, Mark developed the weather program at Florida News Channel's statewide cable network startup in the late 1990s. Mark received his bachelor's degree at Florida State University. He studied meteorology there and at Mississippi State University, which prepared him for Jacksonville's volatile convective weather pattern. Career highlights include becoming the first AMS certified broadcast meteorologist in Jacksonville and flying aboard NOAA's hurricane hunters.