Composed by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet focusing on Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When many Imperial students visualize Silwood Park, they picture a verdant, enigmatic, and green campus bustling with wildlife and plant life 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 lesser-known community at Imperial, I wish to spotlight the student life, events, and camaraderie at our natural parkland campus situated in Ascot, Berkshire.
A brief overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and featuring habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and open grasslands. A simple query on iNaturalist, an app that allows users to track and share biodiversity observations globally with an online community of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, and a further investigation on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been identified on campus to date.
Notably, Silwood Park is also the setting for numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more recognized endeavors conducted on-site.
Student life at Silwood Park
The campus mainly accommodates postgraduate students focused on projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us engage in multiple clubs based at Silwood Park. Key examples include:
- Chicken Club – which cares for the chickens kept behind our residence halls
- Book Club – which meets regularly to discuss interesting literature
- Gardening Club – which oversees the plots in our community garden
- Conservation Club – which arranges nature walks and conservation-based activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
Being a part of the broader Imperial student network, numerous individuals also take part in activities of clubs based in South Kensington!
Additionally, we have informal clubs that participate in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), occurring 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, we host numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council responsible for organizing and facilitating these activities, ensuring a lively and engaging student experience! Recently, we’ve hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community gathered to share languages and cultures over several weeks, and we also marked the Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year by making dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. There have also been community-organized parties celebrating various worldwide festivities (such as Carnival), or simply gatherings meant for the sheer enjoyment of socializing.
My favorite event on campus, however, is the weekly pub quiz, arranged by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that those who lose the pub quiz are responsible for organizing the next one, and I can proudly claim to have set the highest number of pub quizzes this year. Despite failing many pub quizzes due to my lack of general trivia knowledge, there’s always a great time to be had with good friends and a nice pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the lively energy of civilization (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed dull or insufficient. Beyond the many events and activities, we enjoy a friendly and inclusive community made up of students from around the globe. We all cherish nature, appreciate our stunning campus grounds, and, more significantly, value each other’s company. We’re a