During the spring 2003 semester the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) instituted President Cofer’s “Emerging Scholars” program for first-year undergraduate students. The intent of this initiative is to improve retention of students, enhance the educational process, and encourage on-going interaction between undergraduate students and the faculty. Within the atmospheric science program (Department of Geosciences), three new majors were selected to participate with the meteorology faculty. The students’ projects were based on severe weather occurrences in and near northeast Louisiana and included summer hailstorms, severe weather characteristics, and cool season tornadoes. All student projects involved collection of data from the Storm Prediction Center website and synoptic weather regimes and base data from the Louisiana Office of the State Climatologist. Their examination included the use of various meteorological and climatic principles studied in their first academic year and the application of various summary statistics and graphs/plots for data examination. Participation in, and completion of a report on their project, earned the students a stipend and an opportunity for professional development and mentorship. The students’ projects may also provide a basis for further research and professional development as they continue their course of study towards a degree in atmospheric science.