Composed by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet specializing in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When numerous Imperial students envision Silwood Park, they picture a verdant, enigmatic green campus brimming with wildlife and vegetation seldom found on other campuses like South Kensington or White City. In many aspects, their perceptions are accurate—and every visual imagined of Silwood Park is indeed accurate!
As a spokesperson of this lesser-known segment of Imperial, I wish to shed light on the student experience, activities, and community within our nature-focused parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
An Overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, encompassing 77 hectares and showcasing environments such as freshwater streams, ponds, an “ancient” woodland, and expansive meadows. A straightforward search on iNaturalist, an application that allows users to chart and share biodiversity findings globally with a community of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while a subsequent search on eBird indicates that 111 species of birds have also been found on campus to date.
Moreover, Silwood Park is the venue for numerous long-term field studies, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more recognized initiatives carried out on-site.
Life as a Student at Silwood Park
The campus predominantly hosts postgraduate students engaged in projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us are spread across several clubs established at Silwood Park. Prominent examples include:
- Chicken Club – tasked with caring for the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – which meets regularly to deliberate on books of shared interest on their reading lists
- Gardening Club – responsible for managing the plots in our communal garden
- Conservation Club – which arranges nature walks and conservation-related activities for students at Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also join and actively participate in clubs based in South Kensington!
Informally, we also have clubs that partake in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), hosted either at the multi-use games area (MUGA) on campus or at the indoor sports facilities found in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and classes, we have several community-driven events taking place on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council, which organizes and supports these activities to ensure we enjoy a lively and engaging student experience! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, bringing together our largely international community to share languages and cultures over several weeks, as well as our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the year’s start, where everyone united to make dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also seen community-organized parties celebrating various festivities from around the globe (such as Carnival) or simply gatherings for the sheer enjoyment of having a party.
However, my favorite campus event has to be the weekly pub quiz, coordinated by our student community. It forms part of Silwood culture that the team at the bottom of the pub quiz must organize the following one, and I can proudly say I have set the most pub quizzes of anyone this year. Although I’ve lost numerous pub quizzes due to my limited general knowledge, it’s always a delightful time spent with great companions and a refreshing pint of beer.
Silwood Park: My Sanctuary Away from Home
Although situated a 30-minute stroll from the lively ambiance of society (for instance, the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed dull or lacking. In addition to the multitude of events and