Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When most students from Imperial picture Silwood Park, they see a verdant, enchanting, and green campus abundant with wildlife and flora not commonly found at other campuses like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they’re correct – every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As a voice for this lesser-known faction at Imperial, I wish to showcase the student experience, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
An overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and encompassing diverse environments such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and open grasslands. A quick search on iNaturalist, a platform for documenting and sharing global biodiversity observations with a network of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. Further exploration on eBird shows that 111 bird species have been identified on campus to date.
Interestingly, Silwood Park also hosts numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two prominent studies carried out on the premises.
Life as a student at Silwood Park
The campus primarily accommodates postgraduate students focused on projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us are members of various clubs operating at Silwood Park. Some notable examples include:
- Chicken Club – dedicated to caring for the chickens located behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who meet regularly to discuss interesting reads
- Gardening Club – responsible for the community garden’s allotments
- Conservation Club – who plan nature walks and conservation-focused activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the wider Imperial student body, many of us are also involved in clubs based in South Kensington and actively take part in their activities!
Additionally, informally, 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.
Beyond club activities and classes, we have numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and facilitates these events to maintain a lively and engaging student life! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community engaged in sharing languages and cultures over several weeks. We also celebrated our annual Chinese New Year festivities at the start of the year, where everyone gathered to prepare dumplings and couplets to welcome in the new lunar year. We’ve also enjoyed community-organized parties celebrating global events (such as Carnival), or parties simply for the joy of gathering.
My favorite event on campus, however, has to be the weekly pub quiz, coordinated by our student community. It’s a tradition in Silwood culture that the losers of the pub quiz must organize the next one, and I can proudly claim to have set the most pub quizzes this year. Despite frequently losing due to my limited trivia knowledge, there’s always a great time to be had with fantastic company and a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Although located a 30-minute stroll from the lively charms of civilization (like the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt dull or deficient. Alongside the multitude of events and activities, we enjoy a friendly and inclusive community made up of students from across the globe. We all share a passion for nature, appreciate our stunning campus grounds, and