Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they see a verdant, enigmatic, and green environment bustling with wildlife and flora not typically found at other campuses such as South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – and every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As a member of this relatively unknown community at Imperial, I’d like to underscore the student life, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
An overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research center, covering 77 hectares and featuring habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and open grasslands. A brief search on iNaturalist, an app dedicated to 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, and an additional check on eBird reveals that 111 bird species have been documented thus far.
Interestingly, Silwood Park is also the location of various long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more recognized studies conducted on-site.
The student experience at Silwood Park
The campus primarily accommodates postgraduate students interested in ecology, conservation, and evolution projects. Many of us are affiliated with several clubs located at Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – that tend to the chickens kept behind our dormitories
- Book Club – which meets regularly to discuss selected literature from their reading lists
- Gardening Club – that oversees the allotments within our community garden
- Conservation Club – which coordinates nature walks and conservation-related events for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, several of us also engage in activities organized by clubs based in South Kensington!
Casually, we have groups that participate in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), held either at the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Alongside club activities and classes, many community-focused events take place on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and facilitates these initiatives to guarantee a lively and dynamic student experience! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community united to share languages and cultures over several weeks, and we also celebrated our traditional Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year, when everyone gathered to prepare dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. There have also been community-organized parties celebrating various global events (like Carnival), or simply parties held for the joy of celebration.
However, my favorite campus event has to be the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that the team with the lowest score in the pub quiz has to coordinate 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 many pub quizzes due to my limited general knowledge, there’s always great enjoyment to be found with fantastic company and a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute stroll from the lively atmosphere of civilization (such as the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park never feels dull or uneventful. In addition to the numerous events and activities, we have a friendly and inclusive community made up of students from around the globe. We all share a love for nature and cherish our stunning campus grounds,