Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet specializing in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many Imperial students visualize Silwood Park, they imagine a verdant, enigmatic, and green campus abounding with wildlife and vegetation not commonly found at other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – every depiction of Silwood Park is accurate!
As a voice representing this lesser-known segment of Imperial, I wish to shed light on the student atmosphere, engagements, and community within our natural parkland campus situated in Ascot, Berkshire.
An overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s open-air laboratory, covering 77 hectares and encompassing habitats including freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and expansive grasslands. A quick inquiry on iNaturalist, an application that allows users to map and share biodiversity observations globally with a social network of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of flora, fauna, and fungi have been cataloged on campus, while a further search on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been observed thus far.
More intriguingly, Silwood Park is also a hub for numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being among the more prominent studies conducted on-site.
Student experience at Silwood Park
The campus primarily accommodates postgraduate students who are enthusiastic about projects focused on ecology, conservation, and evolution. Most of us are active members of various clubs based at Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for the care of the chickens that are raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who convene regularly to discuss selected books
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – organizing nature walks and ecology-related activities for Silwood Park students.
As part of the broader Imperial student community, many of us also join in and engage with clubs based 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 indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Alongside club activities and academic lessons, various community-led events occur on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and facilitates these events to ensure a lively and engaging student life! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our largely diverse international community gathered to share languages and cultures over several weeks, as well as our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the beginning of the year, where everyone united to make dumplings and couplets to herald the new lunar year. We’ve also celebrated with community-organized parties commemorating various global festivities (such as Carnival), or simply parties held for the joy of socializing.
However, my favorite campus event definitely has to be the weekly pub quiz, arranged by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that the quiz losers must organize the next event, and I can confidently boast the highest count of quizzes organized this year. Even though I’ve lost multiple quizzes due to my lack of general knowledge, there’s always enjoyable moments to be had with good friends and a nice pint of beer.
Silwood Park: a second home
Even though it’s located a 30-minute stroll from the dynamic buzz of civilization (for instance, the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never been dull or deficient. In addition to the multitude of events and activities, we foster a friendly and inviting community made up of students.