Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When most students at Imperial think of Silwood Park, they picture a vibrant, intriguing, and green campus bustling with wildlife and vegetation that aren’t typically found at other locations such as South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they’re spot on – every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As a representative of this lesser-known cohort at Imperial, I aim to showcase the student experience, activities, and community present at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
Introducing Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and encompassing ecosystems like freshwater rivers, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and open meadows. A quick search on iNaturalist, a platform for tracking and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide with an online community of naturalists, shows that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been cataloged on campus, with an additional inquiry on eBird revealing that 111 bird species have been identified there to date.
More intriguingly, Silwood Park is the location for numerous long-term field research endeavors, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being among the more recognized initiatives carried out on-site.
The student experience at Silwood Park
The campus primarily hosts postgraduate students interested in ecology, conservation, and evolution projects. Many of us engage in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for caring for the chickens located behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who meet regularly to talk about books of shared interest
- Gardening Club – managing the plots in our community garden
- Conservation Club – coordinating nature walks and conservation-themed activities for students at Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student community, several of us are also members and actively take part in activities of clubs located in South Kensington!
Casually, we have clubs that participate in sports like badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), utilizing either the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or indoor sports facilities in nearby towns such as Bracknell or Ascot.
Apart from club activities and academic lessons, we host numerous community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council responsible for organizing and supporting these activities, ensuring a lively and enjoyable student life! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community came together to share languages and cultures over several weeks, along with our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the start of the year, where everyone prepared dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. Additionally, we’ve enjoyed community-organized parties celebrating global occasions (like Carnival) or gatherings simply for the sake of celebrating.
My favorite campus event, however, would have to be the weekly pub quiz, coordinated by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that the losers of the pub quiz are tasked with organizing the next one, and I can proudly claim the most quizzes organized this year. Despite failing numerous pub quizzes due to my lacking general trivia knowledge, there’s always merriment to be found with great company and a fine pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the bustling atmosphere of civilization (like the train station and the closest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt dull or insufficient. Alongside numerous events and activities, we foster a warm and inviting community filled with students from across the globe. We all cherish nature, adore our stunning campus grounds, and, most importantly, enjoy each other’s company. We