Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they see a thriving, enigmatic, and verdant campus brimming with animal and plant life rarely encountered on other campuses such as South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – every portrayal of Silwood Park holds true!
As a member of this lesser-known segment of the Imperial community, I would like to shine a light on the student life, activities, and camaraderie at our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
A glimpse of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and showcasing habitats like freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A straightforward search on iNaturalist, a platform for mapping and sharing biodiversity observations globally within a social network of naturalists, indicates that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while a further inquiry on eBird highlights that 111 bird species have been noted on site thus far.
Additionally, Silwood Park is recognized for hosting numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more prominent studies carried out on the premises.
Student experience at Silwood Park
The campus primarily houses postgraduate students passionate about projects in ecology, conservation, and evolution. A majority of us are involved in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for caring for the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – meeting regularly to discuss interesting titles from their reading lists
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments in our shared community garden
- Conservation Club – organizing nature walks and conservation-related activities for students at Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us are also affiliated with and actively engage in clubs based in South Kensington!
Casually, we also have groups that partake in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), taking place either on the multi-use games area (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities located in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Alongside club activities and classes, we host numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that coordinates and facilitates such events to foster a lively and enjoyable student experience! In recent months, we’ve experienced the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community united to share languages and cultures over several weeks, and we also celebrated our annual Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year, with everyone joining in to make dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. Additionally, we’ve had community-organized parties commemorating global festivities (like Carnival), or gatherings arranged simply for the joy of socializing.
My favorite campus event, however, has to be the weekly pub quiz organized by our student community. It’s part of Silwood culture that the quiz losers must host the next one, and I can proudly claim to have set the highest number of pub quizzes this year. Even though I’ve lost many quizzes due to my limited general knowledge, there’s always great fun to be had in the company of friends over a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s situated a 30-minute stroll from the lively bustle of civilization (such as the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed dull or insufficient. Besides the numerous events and activities, we enjoy a friendly and inclusive community made up of students from various corners of the globe.