Athena Masson is a hurricane expert and meteorologist originally from Florida. Since surviving Hurricane Andrew in 1992 she has dedicated her life to studying tropical cyclones and other severe weather phenomena. She has studied in several countries, including Antarctica, where she delivered the opening speech for the 2007 International Polar Year transmitted via satellite. While working toward her Bachelor of Science degree she received a certificat de langue française from la Sorbonne Université in Paris, France. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of San Francisco and began her graduate research at a place where tropical cyclones end: Newfoundland, Canada. For her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto, she created a new hurricane scale for the North Atlantic that better classifies the strength of an approaching tropical cyclone as compared to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.