Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When most Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they think of a vibrant, intriguing, and green campus alive with wildlife and plant species seldom found on other campuses like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are right – every representation of Silwood Park holds true!
As a member of this lesser-known community at Imperial, I wish to showcase the student experience, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
An overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and featuring habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A quick look on iNaturalist, an application that allows you to track and share observations of global biodiversity within a social network of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while an additional search on eBird highlights that 111 bird species have been documented on our grounds so far.
Moreover, Silwood Park is the venue for several long-term field research initiatives, with Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being among the most recognized studies performed on the premises.
Student experience at Silwood Park
The campus predominantly hosts postgraduate students focused on projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us participate in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Some prominent examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for the care of chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – which convenes regularly to discuss selected reads from their literary list
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – organizing nature walks and activities centered around conservation for students at Silwood Park Campus.
Being part of the broader Imperial student body, several of us are also members of and actively engage in events of clubs situated in South Kensington!
Additionally, we have clubs that spontaneously engage in sports like badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), which take place either on the multi-use games area (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities located in nearby towns such as Bracknell or Ascot.
Apart from club activities and classes, we have numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and coordinates such activities to promote an engaging and dynamic student environment! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community united to share languages and cultures over several weeks, along with our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the start of the year, where everyone collaborated to create dumplings and couplets to celebrate the new lunar year. We’ve also enjoyed community-organized parties honoring global festivities (such as Carnival) or simply for the love of celebration.
However, my favorite campus event has to be the weekly pub quiz organized by our student community. It is a Silwood tradition that the losing teams of the quiz must arrange the next one, and I can proudly say I hold the record for the most quizzes organized this year. Despite losing many quizzes due to my limited knowledge of general trivia, it’s always a delightful time spent with great company and a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Although it is a 30-minute stroll from the lively bustle of civilization (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt monotonous or lacking. Along with the variety of events and activities, we have a friendly and inclusive community filled with students from all over.