Composed by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they imagine a verdant, enchanting, and green campus full of wildlife and vegetation not commonly found at our other sites like South Kensington or White City. In numerous aspects, they are correct – each portrayal of Silwood Park holds true!
As a voice for this lesser-known faction at Imperial, I’d like to shed light on the student experience, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
Introducing Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and including ecosystems such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and open fields. A quick search on iNaturalist, an application for documenting and sharing biodiversity observations globally among a social network of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while a search on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been documented thus far.
Moreover, Silwood Park is the location for numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being among the more renowned studies conducted on-site.
Life as a Student at Silwood Park
The campus primarily houses postgraduate students who are engaged in projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Most of us are active members of various clubs based at Silwood Park. Some noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – which tends to the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – which meets regularly to discuss interesting literature
- Gardening Club – which oversees the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – which organizes nature walks and conservation-oriented activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student community, many of us also engage in activities offered by clubs based in South Kensington!
Casually, we also have groups involved in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), with activities held either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or in indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and lectures, we host numerous community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and facilitates events to foster a lively and exciting student life! Recently, we held a Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community gathered to share languages and cultures over several weeks, along with our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the year’s start, where everyone came together to prepare dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also enjoyed community-organized celebrations for global events (such as Carnival), or gatherings simply for the love of festivities.
However, my favorite event on campus has to be the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that the losing team of the pub quiz must organize the next one, and I can proudly state that I’ve set the most pub quizzes this year. Even with my numerous losses due to my lack of general trivia knowledge, there’s always great enjoyment to be had with delightful company and a refreshing pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the lively buzz of civilization (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt boring or insufficient. Beyond the multitude of events and activities, we enjoy a friendly and inviting community made up of students from across the globe. All of us cherish nature, appreciate our stunning campus, and most importantly, value one another.