Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they see a verdant, enigmatic, and green campus flourishing with wildlife and plants uncommon to our other campuses such as South Kensington or White City. In various respects, they are accurate – every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As an advocate for this lesser-known community within Imperial, I wish to spotlight the student experience, events, and community at our ecological parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
Introducing Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and featuring habitats like freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and open meadows. A quick search on iNaturalist, a platform for mapping and sharing biodiversity observations globally within a network of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while eBird shows that 111 bird species have been identified thus far.
More notably, Silwood Park hosts numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more recognized studies conducted here.
Life as a Student at Silwood Park
The campus mainly accommodates postgraduate students engaged in projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us participate in a variety of clubs based at Silwood Park. Prominent examples consist of:
- Chicken Club – responsible for the care of the chickens raised behind our accommodations
- Book Club – which convenes regularly to discuss interesting titles on their reading list
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments within our community garden
- Conservation Club – arranging nature walks and conservation-related activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student community, many of us are also involved in clubs based in South Kensington and actively take part in their activities!
Additionally, we have informal clubs that participate in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), held either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities located in nearby towns, including Bracknell or Ascot.
Apart from club activities and academic lessons, numerous community-led events are hosted on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and manages these activities, ensuring our student life remains vibrant and thrilling! In recent months, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community came together to share our languages and cultures over several weeks, and we celebrated our annual Chinese New Year earlier this year, where everyone participated in making dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also had events organized by the community celebrating occasions from all over the globe (such as Carnival), or simply parties thrown for the joy of socializing.
However, my favorite campus event must be the weekly pub quiz, coordinated by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that those who lose the pub quiz have to organize the next one, and I can proudly state that I’ve set the highest number of pub quizzes this year. Even though I’ve lost at many quizzes due to my limited general knowledge, there’s always plenty of enjoyment to be had with great company and a refreshing pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s situated a 30-minute stroll away from the vibrant atmosphere of civilization (such as the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed dull or deficient. In addition to the myriad of events and activities, we boast a friendly and inviting community composed of