Riin Magnus is a PhD student and researcher at the Department of Semiotics at the University of Tartu. She is also the head of the Jakob von Uexküll Centre in Tartu, a branch organization of Estonian Naturalists’ Society that holds an archive of the works of Baltic German biologist Jakob von Uexküll and conducts research in biosemiotics, theoretical biology, and other related fields.
Riin’s research interests encompass biophilosophy, biosemiotics, and environmental history. In her dissertation she is applying biosemiotic theory to the analysis of guide dog and blind person interactions, focusing thereby on the formation of interspecific perceptual and communication systems. The other project she is currently working on, together with her colleague Kadri Tüür, concerns the historical movement patterns to and on the Estonian islands and their impact on the local environment and cultural change. During her research stay at the RCC, she worked on both of the above mentioned topics.