Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many Imperial students envision Silwood Park, they see a verdant, enigmatic, and green campus filled with wildlife and plants rarely encountered at other campuses like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – and every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As an ambassador of this lesser-known segment of Imperial, I wish to showcase the student experience, activities, and community at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
Introducing Silwood Park
Silwood Park functions as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and comprising habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and open grasslands. A quick search on iNaturalist, an app facilitating the mapping and sharing of biodiversity observations globally within an online social network of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while further investigation on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been cataloged thus far.
Moreover, Silwood Park serves as a venue for various long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more prominent studies conducted on-site.
Campus life at Silwood Park
The campus predominantly accommodates postgraduate students focused on ecology, conservation, and evolution projects. Most of us are members of several clubs based at Silwood Park. Notable examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for the care of the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who meet regularly to discuss books pertinent to their reading lists
- Gardening Club – managing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – organizing nature walks and conservation-focused activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
Being part of the wider Imperial student community, many of us also engage in activities of clubs located in South Kensington!
Additionally, we have informal clubs that participate in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), which take place either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at the indoor sports halls in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Alongside club activities and classes, numerous community-led events take place on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council, which organizes and facilitates these activities to maintain a vibrant and dynamic student life! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our largely international community united to share languages and cultures over several weeks, as well as our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the year’s outset, where everyone collaborated to make dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also hosted community-organized parties celebrating events from around the globe (such as Carnival), or parties simply held for the joy of celebration.
However, my favorite campus event is undoubtedly the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. Silwood culture dictates that the losers of the pub quiz must organize the next one, and I can proudly assert the highest number of pub quizzes set this year. Despite losing at numerous pub quizzes due to my limited knowledge of general trivia, there’s always enjoyable moments to be found in great company over a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it is situated a 30-minute walk from the lively atmosphere of civilization (such as the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed dull or lacking. In addition to the many events and activities, we enjoy a warm and inviting community made up of students from around the globe. All