Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet focusing on Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When many Imperial students envision Silwood Park, they picture a vibrant, enchanting, green campus brimming with wildlife and plants not typically found at other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – every representation of Silwood Park is indeed true!
As a representative of this lesser-known segment of Imperial, I wish to shed light on the student experience, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
Introducing Silwood Park
Silwood Park is Imperial’s outdoor research facility, encompassing 77 hectares and containing diverse habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and open grasslands. A quick search on iNaturalist, an application for documenting and sharing biodiversity observations globally through a network of naturalists, indicates that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. Additionally, a further inquiry on eBird shows that 111 bird species have been recorded on campus to date.
Notably, Silwood Park also hosts numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more prominent studies conducted on-site.
Life as a student at Silwood Park
The campus primarily accommodates postgraduate students engaged in projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Most of us actively participate in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for caring for the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who meet regularly to discuss books of interest from their reading lists
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – organizing nature walks and conservation-related activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
Being part of the larger Imperial student body, many of us also get involved in activities of clubs based in South Kensington!
Informally, we have clubs that participate in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), which take place either on the multi-use games area (MUGA) on campus or in indoor sports halls located in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Alongside club activities and classes, there are numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park features its own student council that organizes and facilitates these activities, ensuring a dynamic and engaging student environment! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our largely international community came together to share languages and cultures over a few weeks. Additionally, we celebrated our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the beginning of the year, where everyone joined to prepare dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We have also had community-organized parties celebrating global events (like Carnival), or simply gatherings for the joy of socializing.
My absolute favorite campus event has to be the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. It’s ingrained in Silwood culture that the losers of the pub quiz are responsible for setting the next one, and I can proudly assert that I have set the most pub quizzes this year. Even though I struggle with general trivia and have lost many quizzes, there’s always great enjoyment to be found in good company and a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Although situated a 30-minute walk from the lively atmosphere of civilization (such as the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed monotonous or lacking. Apart from the multitude of events and activities, we benefit from a friendly and inviting community made up of students from around the world. We all share a love for nature, a passion for our