Jason Ur specializes in early urbanism, landscape archaeology, and remote sensing, particularly the use of declassified US intelligence imagery. His research has focused on the impacts of early urban communities on their landscapes using field survey and satellite remote sensing techniques, in particular declassified intelligence satellite photographs. In Syria, he has participated in or directed surveys around several Bronze Age cities, with emphasis on their spatial dimensions, agricultural systems, and communications networks. His remote sensing studies have considered the extent of imperial irrigation systems in northern Iraq and northwestern Iran, and revealed pastoral nomadic landscapes in Iran and southeastern Turkey.  Since 2012, he has directed the Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey, an archaeological survey in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq that focuses on the impacts of forced deportation and resettlement under the Assyrian empire. He is currently preparing a history of Mesopotamian cities. He also serves as chair of Harvard’s Standing Committee on Archaeology.