Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet concentrating on Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they imagine a vibrant, intriguing, and verdant campus alive with flora and fauna rarely found at other campuses such as South Kensington or White City. In numerous aspects, they are correct—and every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As a voice for this lesser-known populace at Imperial, I wish to emphasize the student experience, engagements, and camaraderie at our natural reserve campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
An overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park acts as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares with environments such as freshwater streams, ponds, an “ancient” woodland, and open fields. A brief search on iNaturalist, an application for cataloging and sharing biodiversity findings worldwide through a community of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. A further inquiry on eBird discloses that 111 bird species have been identified on campus to date.
Moreover, Silwood Park is home to numerous long-term field studies, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project standing out as two of the more prominent investigations conducted on-site.
Student atmosphere at Silwood Park
The campus mainly caters to postgraduate scholars focused on ecology, conservation, and evolution initiatives. Many of us engage in various clubs based in Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for the care of the chickens raised behind our dormitories
- Book Club – who regularly meet to discuss intriguing literature
- Gardening Club – who oversee the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – who coordinate nature walks and conservation-related activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
Being part of the larger Imperial student body, numerous participants also join in the activities of clubs based in South Kensington!
Casually, we have clubs that partake in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), hosted either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or in indoor sports facilities in neighboring towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Apart from club activities and classes, we enjoy a plethora of community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and facilitates these events to ensure a dynamic and engaging student atmosphere! In recent months, we held a Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community exchanged languages and cultures over several weeks, and we also marked the start of the year with a Chinese New Year celebration, making dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. Additionally, we’ve hosted community-arranged parties celebrating worldwide events (like Carnival) or simply for the joy of gathering.
My favorite campus event is the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student body. It’s part of Silwood culture that the quiz’s losers organize the following one, and I can confidently assert the highest number of pub quizzes set this year. Although I’ve lost countless pub quizzes due to my limited general knowledge, there’s always great enjoyment with good friends and a quality pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my haven away from home
Even though it’s a 30-minute stroll from the lively essence of civilization (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never been dull or lacking. In addition to diverse events and activities, we cultivate a warm and inviting community made up of students from all corners of the globe. We all cherish nature, admire our stunning campus grounds, and more significantly, appreciate each other’s company. We’re a close-knit group that relishes stargazing in the winter chill in the open field adjacent to our bar, observing the birds and mammals that visit our room windows,